Skipper of the Guyana Harpy Eagles side, Leon Johnson, has credited the efforts of the bowling department and batsman Matthew Nandu for the team’s first-round victory over Barbados Pride in the ongoing West Indies Championship.
Eagles stormed to a 183-run win over the defending champions at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium Saturday after posting 371 and 126-9 declared and bowling out Pride for 220 and 94.
“I am happy, yesterday we were in a spot of bother, we wanted to get probably a bit more than we got yesterday but I think we played well out of that situation and were able to put up 278 on the board which I think was enough,” said Johnson after the match.
Looking back at the efforts, Johnson, who led Guyana to five consecutive titles before surrendering the championship to Pride added, “I think we played well in the first innings, very well played to young Nandu who came in and showed a lot of maturity and became the fifth Guyanese batsman to score a 100 on debut and also [Veerasammy] Permaul, the old stalwart claiming 500 wickets for Guyana and six wickets in the game and contributing in both innings with the bat so all in all I think we had a very good game.”
Nandu scored 126 from 331 balls, hitting 14 boundaries during his debut innings while Permaul picked up a match haul of 6-71 and chipped in with cameos of 37 and 33.
Commenting on Nandu’s performance the skipper reflected, “I was there when he got to 50, Permaul was there when he got the 100 but he was actually telling me
a lot of stuff, how the wicket was playing what the bowlers were doing so that’s why I say he batted with a lot of maturity, and he is the reason why we were able to get to 371. He steadied a lot of partnerships which was very good for a 19-year-old.”
After closing the second innings on the penultimate day on 91 for eight the Harpy Eagles managed to reach 126, a total Johnson was confident of defending.
“Second innings, I think we were a little bit irresponsible… we wanted to get probably 100 yesterday afternoon and come back and bat five or six overs and get up to 275-280 which we got but losing eight wickets, we were a bit irresponsible yesterday with some of the shots and I think that’s where we went wrong,” the captain said.
Johnson also praised the efforts of the pacers who managed to bowl out Pride for under 100.
“We just looked to hit good areas, the pitch became up and down, some balls kept low. I was very impressed by the efforts the fast bowlers put out, [Nial] Smith five wickets, [Ronsford] Beaton two wickets and [Shamar] Joseph one wicket so that was a very good effort from them on what seemed to be a very flat pitch,”
Meanwhile the Guyana Cricket Board has sent a message congratulating the team on the win.
“The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) congratulates Guyana Harpy Eagles Captain Leon Johnson and his team for a resounding victory in the opening match of the West Indies Championship against Barbados Pride,” the GCB release stated.
“The victory marks a great start to the 2023 campaign of West Indies Championship in which the GHE has set out to regain the regional four-day title. The GCB commends the team’s effort with special mention for Matthew Nandu on his debut century in first innings; becoming the fifth Guyanese to achieve the feat since 1966, Nial Smith for his five-wicket haul in the second innings and Veerasammy Permaul, who became the first Guyanese bowler to take 500 wickets in Regional four-day cricket during the match.
“The GCB would like the GHE team to enjoy the victory while encouraging them to remain focused for the remaining matches.”
The GHE will leave for Grenada for the second round match where they will take on home team Windward Volcanoes starting on Wednesday.
