BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Leeward Islands Hurricanes produced a superb team performance to trounce the Barbados Pride in just two days to notch up full points in the CWI Digicel Regional 4-Day Championships, and they are now turning their attention to table toppers - the Guyana Jaguars - at Warner Park.
The Hurricanes brushed off an eight-year losing streak against the much-favoured Pride to spring the upset by an inning and 4 runs last week at the Kensington Oval, Barbados.
Director of Cricket Operations at the Leeward Islands Cricket Board, Vernon Springer told SKNVibes Sport that people have to look at the quality of cricket that was played in the game.
The Leeward Islands rooted out the Pride for a meagre 116 in their first inning on the opening day, and Springer noted that as a result the home side was left with an uphill task to find their footing in the game.
Taking to the crease, the Hurricanes chalked up 233 all out, and that was all they need as the Barbados Pride were dismissed for 113 runs in their second innings on day two.
Springer is of a strong view that the pace bowlers should be commended for the extra effort they put into their performance during the clash.
“I think the objective of the Leeward Islands Hurricanes was to bat once. We did just that and Barbados again folded in the second innings. It really was a below par performance by the Barbados team, but one also has to give credit to our seam bowlers led by Gavin Tonge and Jeremiah Louie, who really bent their backs at the Kensington Oval.”
The Hurricanes are now preparing for a clash with defending champions and top-of-the-table Jaguar; a team that has been dominant in regional four-day cricket in recent years and is coming off comprehensive victories in their opening two encounters.
The clash is slated for November 9-12 at Warner Park and the home side is confident of pulling off another victory as they did last season.
According to Springer, the team is currently rolling with the momentum that it gained from its opening clashes, and the fact it pulled off the upset last season.
The Hurricanes will be bolstered by the return of their captain Rakheem Cornwall and several other players from international duties with the West Indies A team.
And according to Springer, that has caused a nightmare for the selectors, who would now have to choose between the returning players and those who would have performed in the opening games.
“It now bodes well for us going into this weekend’s game against Guyana. You would have known that in 2016/2017 we defeated them, which was a morale booster for us. But Guyana is leading the competition so far and we are really going to have to play some good cricket.
“I think this is a good headache to have because the performances from the first two games…we now have to spur the momentum to try and see if we can improve on our performance from last season”.
The Jaguars would be confident coming off a seven-wicket victory inside three-days against the Windward Islands Volcanoes, where Veersammy Permaul and company wreaked havoc.
