BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Captain Leon Johnson stroked his second successive half-century as Guyana Jaguars won their third straight with an easy six-wicket triumph over Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners here last night.
Set a straightforward target in the day/night affair at Kensington Oval, Jaguars got home with 25 balls remaining to continue their revival after losing their opening two games of the Regional Super50 last week.
Man-of-the-Match Johnson followed up his 78 last Monday with a composed 71 off 115 balls but it was veteran left-hander Shiv Chanderpaul who put the finishing touches on the victory with a fluent unbeaten 58 from 61 deliveries.
Fast bowler Ronsford Beaton had earlier taken three for 52 and left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul, two for 29, as Marooners were limited to 188 off 49.2 overs.
Opener Amir Jangoo, already with two half-centuries in the tournament, top-scored with 30 while captain Jamal Smith weigned in with 28 not out and Nino Henry, 26.
Marooners’ start was less than decisive as seamer Paul Wintz had Vikash Mohan caught at mid-on by Chris Barnwell for eight at 17 for one in the fourth over.
Two small partnerships then propped up the innings as the left-handed Jangoo put on 25 for the second wicket with Kyle Corbin (11) and a further 30 for the third wicket with Cassius Burton (20).
Jangoo’s run out in the 21st over at 73 for three triggered a collapse where four wickets fell for 45 runs to leave Marooners on 117 for six in the 33rd over.
Smith and Henry then staged the best partnership of the innings, posting 41 for the seventh wicket to bolster the Marooners effort.
In reply, Jaguars were stunned by Marooners as they lost Rajindra Chandrika (9) and Shimron Hetmyer (5) cheaply to slump to 19 for two in the ninth over.
Chandrika fended one from fast bowler Jermaine Levy to Corbin at gully in the sixth over with the score on 11 and Hetmyer top-edged a cut behind off pacer Keon Harding 21 balls later.
However, Johnson then settled the innings, anchoring two key stands to erase any hopes of a Marooners victory. First, he put on 54 for the third wicket with Assad Fudadin who made 25 and then added 85 with Chanderpaul for the fourth wicket.
All told, Johnson hit nine fours while Chanderpaul struck four fours and two sixes to extend his purple patch that has already brought him a century.
The left-handed Johnson seemed poised to see his side home when he picked out Burton at third man with off-spinner Mohan in the 42nd over but Barnwell, 11 not out, joined Chanderpaul to formalize proceedings in an unbroken 31-run stand.
