KINGSTOWN, St Vincent– Jamaica is in a good position to claim first innings lead over the Windward Islands, while Guyana staged a fightback against T&T after being skittled out on the opening day of the second round of matches in the Regional Under-19 Championship.
Led by three-wicket hauls from Sanjay Brown and Raewin Senior, Jamaica dismissed the Windwards for just 184. At the close of play, they had made significant inroads into that total, finishing on 133 for two, just 51 runs adrift.
Jamaica was given a solid start by openers Kirk McKenzie (33) and Ricardo McIntosh, who scored 64, as they added 65 runs in just 12 overs for the first wicket.
McIntosh’s knock contained seven boundaries and one six and came off 83 balls.
Following their eventual dismissals, Bryan Brown who is unbeaten on 16 and Andre McCarthy (12 not out), ensured there were no further surprises.
Earlier, Brown and Senior, along with McCarthy who took two wickets, ran through the Windwards lower order.
From a comfortable position of 181 for 5, the Windwards lost their last five wickets for the addition of just three runs, after Tahj Tavernier and Micah Joseph had helped rescue them from early trouble.
Tavernier, who topscored with 53 and Joseph (34) shared a 65-run partnership for the sixth wicket after the Windwards had stumbled to 116 for five.
But once they were dismissed within a run of each other there was very little resistance.
Table leaders Guyana were routed for just 104, but fought back to limit T&T to 51 for four at the end of play.
Baskar Yadram was Guyana’s topscorer with 25, with no other batsman scoring 20 runs, as Navin Bidaisee’s four for 31 left them tottering at 65-5 at one point.
Kevin Sinclair then accounted for the first three wickets of Bidaisee, Cephas Cooper and Leonardo Julien, to reduce T&T to 29-3, and leave the contest evenly poised heading into Wednesday’s second day.
Barbados was led by a superb five-wicket haul from Joshua Bishop, as they ended their contest against the Leeward Islands in the driver’s seat.
Batting first, several Barbadian batsman got starts but failed to carry on as they were bowled out for a respectable 249.
Matthew Forde (45) and Nyeem Young (44) both fell short of half centuries, as Barbados recovered from 137 for seven.
Elroy Francis was the main destroyer, snagging four wickets for 56 runs, while Mikyle Louis and Zawandi White each took two wickets.
Bishop then struck thrice in three successive overs to restrict the Leewards to 49-3.
Mikyle Louis who is unbeaten on 49, helped to steady the innings and avert catastrophe after his team fell into further trouble at 78-5.
Together with Joshua Grant, they have added 41 for the sixth wicket so far to end on 117-5.
(CMC)
Scores:
At Park Hill Playing Field: Leeward Islands trail Barbados by 130 runs with five wickets intact.
BARBADOS 249 (Matthew Forde 45, Nyeem Young 44, Shian Brathwaite 32, Kilano Brathwaite 26; Elroy Francis 4-56, Mikyle Louis 2-44, Zawandi White 2-52)
LEEWARD ISLANDS 119 for five (Mikyle Louis 49 not out; Joshua Bishop 5-23)
At Sion Hill Playing Field: T&T trail Guyana by 53 runs with six wickets intact.
GUYANA 104 (Baskar Yadram 25; Navin Bidaisee 4-31, Rivaldo Ramlagan 2-14, Justyn Gangoo 2-20)
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 51 for four ( Kevin Sinclair 3-17)
At Arnos Vale Playing Field: Jamaica trail the Windward Islands by 51 runs with eight wickets intact.
WINDWARD ISLANDS 184 (Tahj Tavernier 53, Mica Joseph 34, Johnel Eugene 29, Kimani Melius 25; Sanjay Brown 3-12, Raewin Senior 3-45, Andre McCarthy 2-40)
JAMAICA 133 for two (Ricardo McIntosh 64 not out, Kirk McKenzie 33)
(CMC)