Guyana Harpy Eagles have placed themselves in a strong position to regain the West Indies Championship as they head home for the final two rounds at the top of the table.
Eagles enhanced their position with a 143-run win over Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in the third round to sit on 49 points. The defeat saw the Red Force slip to the penultimate spot on the table with 24.8 points.
Windward Islands Volcanoes erupted to second place with 37.8 points after beating Jamaica Scorpions by 181 runs.
The Jamaica Scorpions are sitting at the bottom of the table on 15.4 points.
Defending champions, Barbados Pride suffered a two-wicket loss to Leeward Islands Hurricanes who swapped places for third and fourth place.
The Hurricanes are now on 34.2 points, three points more than the Pride.
In the batting department, Volcanoes’ skipper, Alick Athanaze, sits above the pack with 422 runs having scored a century and three fifties in six innings. He is trailed by Darren Bravo with 371 runs. Bravo missed a third ton in the tournament by just five runs. Eagles duo, Matthew Nandu (247) and skipper Leon Johnson (219) also are trailing while Volcanoes’ Sunil Ambris (216), Eagles’ Kevin Sinclair (214), Volcanoes’ Kimani Melius (204) and Red Force’s Amir Jangoo (203) are the other players with over 200 runs in the competition.
With the ball, Hurricanes’ off-spinner, Rahkeem Cornwall has taken 21 wickets so far while Guyana’s left-arm spinner, Veerasammy Permaul returned 17 wickets to date, moving on to become the most successful bowler in West Indies first-class cricket. Red Force’s Bryan Charles and Volcanoes’ Justin Greaves have both returned 15 wickets each while Guyana’s Ronsford Beaton has bagged 13 wickets.
Eagles will now take on Scorpions from Wednesday at Providence while Hurricanes and Volcanoes clash at Tarouba. At the Queen’s Park Oval, Red Force and Pride will battle.
Following the Championship, the new Headley/Weekes Series will feature three teams and matches, drawing from top performers championship and players outside the starting West Indies Test XI. The Series will run from 18 April to 6 May at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.
