Guyana was crowned double champions yesterday as rain spoiled its match against Windward Islands in the final of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional Under-19 50-over competition held at the Everest Cricket Ground in Guyana.
Guyana was handed the title after ending the round robin phase with the most number of points. Guyana, which also won the three-day title, won all six of its matches in the 50-over tournament finishing on top of the Windward Islands. Guyana (36.4 points) and the Windward Islands (21.9 points) finished first and second out of the seven teams to qualify for the final.
Jamaica, which did the double last year ended with 21.8 points to grab third spot. T&T found some form at the end of the tournament to finish in fourth position ahead of Barbados, Leeward Islands and ICC Americas. The T&T batting, led by captain Jeremy Solozano, was below par for most of the three-day and one-day tournaments.
Guyana was led by West Indies Under-19 duo Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Shimron Hetmyer. Left-handed Chanderpaul, son of West Indies batting stalwart Shivnarine Chanderpaul won the MVP award in the three-day tournament, while Hetmyer another left-hander took home the MVP award in the 50-over tournament.
Guyana's potent spin bowling attack proved to be a handful for opposing batsmen throughout the three-day and 50-over tournaments.It has been a successful youth cricket season for Guyana. Guyana dethroned defending champions T&T at the regional U-15 50-over tournament in Jamaica. The only tournament Guyana did not win was the WICB Tobago House of Assembly 50-over competition in Tobago. Guyana finished fourth among the six teams, while Barbados came out on top.