(WICB) Bridgetown, Barbados — Guyana pulled off a superb come-from-behind victory by 53 runs over Windward Islands as the fourth round of matches in the West Indies Cricket Board’s Under-19 three-day tournament came to a thrilling climax on Sunday.
The Guyanese were led on first innings but rebounded to set the Windwards a challenging target of 187 in two sessions on a slow, turning pitch at Spartan Cricket Club in Queen’s Park. Off-spinner Mohan Ramdeen was the bowling hero for Guyana with five wickets for 14 off nine overs as the Windwards folded for 143 – the smallest score of the low-scoring match. He was assisted by left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie, who took 4-54 to end the match with eight wickets.
At Kensington Oval, Barbados captain Shai Hope made his third century of the tournament – to expertly guide the home team to first innings lead over Trinidad & Tobago in a high-scoring, top-of-the-table clash. The stylish right-hander made 104 not out as the Bajans declared at 339-6 in reply to T&T’s 337-8 declared.
Hope batted for 6 ½ hours, faced 300 balls and hit five boundaries. He featured in four partnerships of over 50 runs. The most crucial was 65 for the sixth wicket with wicket-keeper Carlos Maynard, who made a fighting 43 on debut. Hope’s heroics followed up his 101 against Windwards in the first round at Queen’s Park and 141 not out against Leewards in the second match at St Catherine Cricket Club, Bayfield.
In the other match, defending champions Jamaica came up two wickets short in their bid to beat Leewards Islands at the Yorkshire Cricket Club. Leewards started the day seven wickets down for 79 runs in their first innings and were bowled out after lunch. They were asked to follow on and batted out 86 overs to end on 80 runs for eight wickets.
Jamaica’s lead spinner Oshane Walters took 4-26 off 19 overs to end the match with eight wickets, while Tezwayne Creary surprised the Leewards with four wickets for 18 runs off 30 overs. They were however kept at bay by Akeem Saunders, who made an accomplished 47 off 147 balls in three hours.
The fifth and final round of matches will start on Tuesday at 10 am (9 am Jamaica Time). Jamaica face Windwards at Weymouth; Barbados take on Guyana at the Desmond Haynes Oval; and Trinidad & Tobago meet Leewards at Kensington Oval.
Match summaries:
At Queen’s Park: Guyana vs Windward Islands – Guyana won by 53 runs
Guyana 147 (Shimron Hetmeyer 40, Ricardo Adams 37, Shawn Pereira 31; Preston McSween 4-55, Larry Edward 3-19) and 249 (Chanderpaul Hemraj 40, Ricardo Adams 31, Tagenarine Chanderpaul 26, Shawn Pereira 47; Preston McSween 3-63, Larry Edward 4-48) Windward Islands 200 (Tarryck Gabriel 80, Keone George 44; Shawn Pereira 5-71, Gudakesh Motie 4-70) and 143 (Gibron Pope 77, Mohan Ramdeen 5-14, Gudakesh Motie 4-54
At Kensington Oval: Barbados vs Trinidad and Tobago – Match drawn.
Trinidad and Tobago 337-8 (Ewart Nicholson 110, Stephan Wharwood 61, Anthony Simmons 40; Akeem Jordan 4-78) and 17-0. Barbados 339-6 declared (Shai Hope 104 not out, Shayne Moseley 61, Carlos Maynard 43; Adrien Daniel 5-98)
At Friendship: Jamaica vs Leeward Islands – Match drawn
Jamaica 390-8 declared (Bryan Gayle 134, Kerry Holness 97, Aldaine Thomas 72, Colin Archibald 3-76) Leeward Islands 104 (Duane Webbe 26; Oshane Walters 4-26) and 80-8 (Akeem Saunders 47; Oshane Walters 23-14-26-4, Tezwayne Creary 30-18-18-4,