A defiant 127 from Windward Island skipper Roland Cato guided his team to 252 all out as Jamaican Captain Ramaal Lewis’ snared another seven-wicket haul yesterday on day one in the final round of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional U19 3-day tournament played at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
Cato, who came to the crease batting at number five, was the backbone of his team’s first innings score of 252 which they mustered in 94.3 overs. He occupied the crease for 237 minutes and faced 211 balls for his topscore which was decorated with 15 fours and three sixes.
Meanwhile, his opposite number and West Indies U19 skipper Lewis continued his excellent run with the ball, picking up his second haul of seven wickets or more as he ended with first innings figures of 7-57 and was responsible for the consecutive dismissals of the first four Windward Islands batsmen. Nicholas Walters chipped in with 1-57.
At stumps, Jamaica were 5 without loss, trailing their first innings target by 247 runs with openers Leroy Lugg (4*) and Odaine Mc Catty (0*) looking positive heading into the second day.
Batting first, Windwards got off to a good start after openers Gidron Pope (32) and Melvin Gordon (27) added 55 for the first wicket. The pair batted in solid fashion before Lewis struck in the 24th over removing the latter. The left-arm spinner then tore through the middle order, removing Pope, Tonis Simon (12), and Sherman Hooper (0) as the Windwards slid from 55-1 to 86-4 in 40 overs.
The session after the lunch break saw Cato and Anson Latchman (16) sharing a partnership of 44 runs before the latter was run out. Cato soon brought up his 50 with a couple and looked to form another useful middle-order partnership with Ryan John (6) but he was trapped LBW by Smith on the stroke of tea.
The Windwards captain continued his fluent innings, picking apart the Jamaicans who were at times wayward in their approach. Doran Edwards (0) failed to trouble the scorers while Lewis, who remained a force to be reckoned with, was rewarded for his precision and skill when he claimed his fifth wicket of the match by trapping Deron Hypolite LBW for 2.
Cato remained composed despite running out of partners and crept closer to his century with approximately 50 minutes of play left on the first day. The right-hander then brought up his hundred with a classy shot through the mid-on region which he then celebrated by the raising of his bat and helmet.
Sherman Lewis (3) was then removed by his namesakes, who picked up his sixth wicket of the day. Despite the possibility of his team being bowled out on the first lingering over his head, Cato remained positive and upped the ante by smashing a flurry of fours and sixes to steer his team to a comfortable 250 plus score before he was stumped by the wicketkeeper off the bowling of his opposite number.
