ROSEAU, Dominica, (CMC) – Tyrone Theophile perished agonisingly short of another first class hundred but teammate Sunil Ambris was eyeing his third, as Windward Islands Volcanoes conjured up their best performance of the new Regional Four-Day Championship, to take command of their fourth round contest against Leeward Islands Hurricanes.Their bowlers first provided the momentum, removing the last four Hurricanes wickets cheaply for 50 runs, as the visitors were dismissed for 259 in their first innings here Sunday.
And armed with a lead of 34 runs, Volcanoes marched to the close on 311 for six, to be 345 runs ahead going into the final day of the game at Windsor Par Sunil Ambris was unbeaten on 84 while Tyrone Theophile fell for 96 with his third first class hundred within touching distance.
Taryck Gabriel chipped in with 30 and West Indies limited overs batsman Johnson Charles, 28.
Volcanoes batted well in partnerships, with Theophile anchoring two key stands up front. He put on 68 for the first wicket with veteran left-hander Devon Smith (22) and a further 53 with Charles for the second wicket.
Unbeaten on 47 at lunch, Theophile upped the tempo afterwards, taking the attack to West Indies seamer Alzarri Joseph, as he raced to 96 on the stroke of the drinks break.
But a lapse in concentration followed in the first over after the resumption and he skied a mis-timed stroke of pacer Gavin Tonge for Haydn Walsh to take the catch at 153 for three.
Theophile struck 13 fours and two sixes and faced a mere 113 balls.
Ambris then produced a patient knock to control the game for Volcanoes. He put on 74 for the fifth wicket with Gabriel and another 32 with Kyle Mayers (12) for the sixth wicket.
He has so far faced 146 balls balls in 170 minutes at the crease and counted three fours.
Earlier, wicketkeeper Jahmar Hamilton failed in his bid to reach his fourth first class century when he fell for 94 after resuming the day on 77.
Shane Shillingford finished with five for 96 while captain and fellow off-spinner Liam Sebastien picked up four for 78.
VOLCANOES 1st Innings 293
Hurricanes 1st Innings
(overnight 209 for six)
*K Powell c Mayers b Matthews 2
M Hodge c Charles b Sebastien 76
A Saunders c Charles b Shillingford 1
C Hughes lbw b Shillingford 20
N Bonner hit wkt b Sebastien 5
+J Hamilton c Charles b Shillingford 94
R Cornwall lbw b Sebastien 18
J Taylor st Ambris b Sebastien 18
H Walsh Jr c Sebastien b Shillingford 4
G Tonge not out 1
A Joseph c Robinson b Shillingford 0
Extras (b6, lb1, nb4) 11
TOTAL (all out, 97.5 overs) 259
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-12, 3-48, 4-69, 5-185, 6-209, 7-245, 8-245, 9-259, 10-259.
Bowling: Johnson 11-3-20-0, Mayers 10-3-27-0, Matthew 9-3-15-1, Shillingford 37.5-10-96-5, Sebastien 27-5-78-4, Theophile 3-0-16-0.
VOLCANOES 2nd Innings
D Smith c Powell b Cornwall 22
T Theophile c Walsh Jr b Tonge 96
J Charles c wkp Hamilton b Cornwall 28
J Robinson c Cornwall b Powell 9
+S Ambris not out 84
T Gabriel c Saunders b Taylor 30
K Mayers b Cornwall 12
S Shillingford not out 19
Extras (b7, lb2, w2) 11
TOTAL (6 wkts, 78 overs) 311
Fall of wickets: 1-68, 2-121, 3-153, 4-171, 5-245, 6-277.
Bowling: Joseph 11-1-56-0, Tonge 8-1-35-1, Cornwall 29-3-104-3, Walsh Jr 11-1-43-0, Powell 6-0-29-1, Taylor 13-0-35-1.
Position: Volcanoes lead by 354 runs overall.
