BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, CMC – Nikita Miller and Damion Jacobs produced further evidence that spin remains the undoing of Leeward Islands Hurricanes’ batsmen when they bowled Jamaica Scorpions to a 157-run victory in the Regional 4-Day Championship yesterday.
Left-arm spinner Miller bagged 5-31 from 20 overs, ending with match figures of 10-87, and leg-spinner Jacobs collected 3-65 from 19.4 overs, as the Hurricanes were bowled out for 144 in their second innings on the final day of their fourth-round match at Warner Park.
West Indies “A” Team opener Montcin Hodge and rookie Terence Warde led the way with 30 apiece, former Scorpions’ wicketkeeper/batsman and part-time medium-fast bowler Devon Thomas made 25 and Hurricanes captain Rahkeem Cornwall, 23.
It was the eighth time that Miller has taken 10 wickets or more in a Regional 4-Day match, making him a shoo-in for the Player-of-the-Match award, and reinforced his place at the top of the list of the most successful bowlers in the modern era of the West Indies first-class championship (1966 onwards) with 434 scalps.
Jacobs ended the match with figures of 6-100 and formalised the result about 50 minutes before the scheduled tea break, when he trapped Sheeno Berridge lbw for a duck, as the Hurricanes made a mess of chasing 302 for victory.
Scorpions – fifth in the standings on 18.2 points prior to the match – earned 18.4 points comprising 12 for victory, three batting points, three bowling points and 0.4 pace bowling points. Hurricanes – previous third on 38.6 – gained just six from three bowling points, one batting point plus two pace bowling points.
With the entire day to bat, the Hurricanes started the chase knowing they were one batsman short, after former West Indies Under-19 World Cup 2016 Final hero Keacy Carty was diagnosed with a fractured right hand.
They knew they were under further pressure, when they reached lunch on 95 for four with the cream of their batting out of the way, and Miller and Jacobs with their tails up.
Derval Green made the breakthrough for the Scorpions, when he forced left-hander Chesney Hughes to hit wicket for three in the fifth over of the day, after this it was practically the Miller show.
He trapped Hodge lbw and bowled Jamaica-born Nkrumah Bonner for three, either side of Jacobs forcing Thomas to edge to the keeper, as the Hurricanes slumped to 83 for four.
After the interval, Warde led the resistance for the Hurricanes, but Miller gained lbw verdicts to dismiss West Indies “A” Team wicketkeeper/batsman Jahmar Hamilton for 13, Cornwall and him, as the home team slid to 142 for seven.
Jacobs, bowling in tandem with Miller, wrapped up the innings, removing Mervin Matthew and Berridge in the space of four deliveries in his 20th over.
Following a break in the tournament next weekend, Scorpions host Windward Islands Volcanoes at Sabina Park in Jamaica in the fifth round, at the same time that the Hurricanes welcome Trinidad & Tobago Red Force to Warner Park.
