Half centuries from Shimron Hetmyer and Christopher Barnwell were integral to the Guyana Jaguars dismantling of the Leewards Hurricanes, despite Devon Thomas’ century in their second encounter in Group B of the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Regional Super 50 on Wednesday.
Playing at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in front of a capacity crowd, luck was on the side of the two Guyanese, as they were aided by five dropped catches in the field courtesy of the Hurricanes.
Nevertheless, they added 144 for the 5th wicket which saw Guyana chasing down 217 with ease, as they coasted to a five wicket victory, whilst solidifying their place at the top of the group.
Jaguars’ skipper Leon Johnson won the toss for the fifth time in seven matches and invited the Hurricanes to bat. Immediately it seemed the right decision, as Romario Shepherd, who had come back into the side to replace Richardo Adams, found a line and removed both openers, while his new ball partner, Keemo Paul dismissed Akeem Charles for two, as the Hurricanes stumbled to 3-24.
However, inform batsman Terrence Ward partnered with Devon Thomas to stabilize the innings, fending off more than 12 overs to add 50, before sharp fielding resulted in Ward being run out for 18.Wickets kept tumbling around Thomas who continued to find the boundaries on his way to an unbeaten 103.
Frontline leg spinner, Devindra Bishoo was on top of his game removing Jevon Searles (9), Jaleel Clark (9) and Sane Burton (6), while Akeal Hosein (23) and Justin Athenaze (15*) consolidated at the end with Thomas in two partnerships worth 43 runs.
In the chase, the Jaguars were off to a flying start as Chandrapaul Hemraj blasted the new ball pair for a quick-fire 30, as Shivnarine Chanderpaul soaked up 48 deliveries for his 14.
Johnson (14) also failed to make a significant score, falling to Ward who had returned with the ball, and had already accounted for three wickets, as the Jaguars seemed to be making a flop of the foundation set by Hemraj.
However, luck was on the side of Hetmyer and Barnwell as they regularly found the gaps, top edges going for boundaries, and when the ball carried to the fielders, the catches were spilled. Barnwell was badly dropped on 41 by Searles, and Hetmyer was on 36 when Shane Burton put down a skier.
Barnwell, who was coming off a four wicket haul in the previous match, played like a batsman in form and his 84 stamped his name as an all-rounder worthy of his spot. He smashed eight fours and two massive sixes, while Hetmyer played the anchor role with four fours in his innings of 60 not out that came from 94 balls.
The Guyana Jaguars will now play a resilient Jamaican Scorpion team in their final group match on Friday to determine which two teams advance to the knock out stage of the tournament.
