BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – DEFENDING Regional U-19 One Day 50 Overs champions, Guyana have taken home the Cricket West Indies Regional Three Day title in a keenly contested final round of matches.
Entering the fifth round of matches, Guyana and Jamaica were in pole position to capture the title when they locked horns at the Conaree ground.
But it was the Guyanese who came out victorious after they trounced their Jamaican counterparts by nine wickets to lift the crown on Saturday (Aug. 12).
Batting first, Jamaica was bowled out for 187 with Brad Barnes top scoring with 64, while Ronaldo Ali Mohammed (5-30) and Ashmead Nedd (3-52) were the chief destroyers for Guyana.
Responding to that total, Guyana racked up a commanding 250 for 8, with Richie Looknauth scoring an unbeaten 61 and Ramnarine Chatura contributing 59.
Bowling for Jamaica, Barnes snagged 3 for 45, David Bird picked up 2 for 61 and Andre Mc Carty 1for 56.
In their second turn at the crease, Jamaica could have only mustered a paltry 139 all out off 55.3 overs.
Raewin Senior top scored with 31 and was followed by Darren Small who contributed 30, while Barnes chipped in with 25 and Shalome Parnell 16.
Bowling for Guyana, Ali Mohamed picked up 4 for 25, having match figures of 9 for 55; Nedd 4 for 67, with match figures of 7 for 119; and Kevin Sinclair supported well with 2 for 23.
Set 77 for victory and the title, Guyana romped home ending with 80 for 1 off 18.3 overs.
Raymond Perez scored 44, Javed Karim 17 and Kevin Sinclair 18.
Guyana’s Coach, Julian Moore told SKNVibes Sports that his team is ecstatic having won the three-day competition after missing out for several years.
“It was good to get it back after losing for the years. We are currently without our West Indian players and the guys really took it upon themselves to play very well in the three-day.
“I think that we played good team cricket. We obviously had some guys who were standing out, but I think that the team’s strength really pulled us through.”
The team is now looking forward to retain their limited overs title, with the competition bowling off today (Aug. 15).
Guyana is currently locked in an intense battle with Canada at the Verchild’s ground, while over in Conaree the Windward Islands is playing against Jamaica and Leeward Islands taking on Trinidad and Tobago in Molineaux.
Barbados has the first-round bye in the competition due to the odd number of teams competing.
