The Pride were devastating with the ball, restricting the Jaguars to under 100 in both innings, the hosts scoring 55 and 94. While the Pride didn’t cover themselves with glory when they bat either, their 174 and 210 were more than enough.
When the Pride bat first, they had no answer to Keemo Paul, whose 3-61 led the way. They didn’t have many responses to Romario Shepherd (2-15), or Raymon Reifer (2-19).
But if the Pride had no answer to the trio, the Jaguars didn’t even understand the questions Roach, who bagged 5-20 and Holder, who had 4-24, were asking.
The two helped reduce the Jaguars to 54 before going back to bat where they fared a little better in the runs column but still could not deal with the pace and guile of Paul, who had 4-52. Kevin Sinclair, 2-28, and Christopher Barnwell, 2-26, were also markedly difficult for the Pride to negotiate, who benefitted from Kraigg Brathwaite’s 84 and Jonathan Carter’s 43.
In the first innings, Brathwaite had scored an important 48.
With a lead of 329, Roach and Co set to work again.
Roach ended with 4-40, while Chemar Holder got in on the act with 2-29.
Jason Holder had an easy afternoon, bowling just four overs, with 1-10.
Carter was also in the thick of things, taking 3-13.
Beginning the day at 155-9 with tailenders Veerasammy Permaul 20 not out and Keon Joseph on 5 and still 27 runs short of the target, the Jaguars would have needed things to go their way to stave off defeat. They managed to add another 19 runs before Permaul was dismissed lbw off the bowling of Derval Green.
With the match evenly poised, however, Salmon had done all of the damage in the previous day’s play. After dismissing the Scorpions for 184 and needing 182 for victory the Jaguars seemed likely to get a second straight win at home.
Their pursuit began in shaky fashion when they lost usually dependable batsmen Tagenarine Chanderpaul (12), Chandrapaul Hemraj (13), Leon Johnson (19) and Vishaul Singh (0), after finding themselves 48-2 at the tea.
Salmon removed Chanderpaul, Hemraj and Singh before bagging the big wicket of Christopher Barnwell (12) who was like Chanderpaul trapped lbw.
The spinner then accounted for the further dismissals of Raymond Reifer (13), Anthony, Sinclair (13) and Niall Smith (0) who was also trapped lbw and put the spinner on a hattrick.
Earlier, the Scorpions had crashed to another low total as they were restricted to 184 in their second innings. Nkrumah Bonner led the way with a top score of 57 not out. Permaul claimed magical second-innings figures of 6-50
The pair will replace Rovman Powell and Brandon King who have been called to represent the West Indies for the ODI tour of Sri Lanka later this month and will join fellow Jamaicans Sheldon Cottrell and Fabian Allen in the West Indies squad.
Salmon, a right-handed middle-order batsman and spin bowler, is excited for the opportunity to represent the franchise.
“I had a good season in the Super League with the Titans. We won the title yet again and that has given me confidence,” he said.
“There’s always room for improvement so I’ll continue to work on getting better. However, this opportunity to represent Jamaica in the 4-day PCL is a significant personal milestone. I’ll be digging deep to give the team every advantage to come out on top.”
Meanwhile, Williams is happy to be chosen again this season.
“The team has not delivered any really favourable results yet, but we have an opportunity now to fix that. Guyana is a strong unit and facing them at home presents challenges. Our squad is capable of securing a victory away. We are one team with a similar dream so I’ll have to do my part to support our best efforts to win,” he said.
The Jamaica Scorpions is winless after three matches but Head Coach Andre Coley remains optimistic that better performances are in store.
“Watching your team start a competition in the way we have cannot be easy for any fan or administrator to accept,” said Coley.
“Most definitely the players and coaching staff are not pleased either. We know we can deliver better results, and we will. The performance is not down to just one thing, it’s a combination of unfavourable matters – injuries, lack of concentration, the batting not yet settled among other things.
“I’ve seen our bowling improve and our fielding as well. With seven games left in the competition, we have opportunities to get back on track. The team is determined to invest the necessary focus and commitment necessary to improve the situation.
Jamaica travels to Guyana then returns for back-to-back home games that will be played at the Trelawny Multipurpose Stadium, before the team leaves again three consecutive away fixtures.
The Scorpions final game in the competition will be a day-night match at Sabina Park April 2-5 against the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force.
The Hope brothers, who would have represented Barbados Tridents, will be joined on the sidelines by left-handed opener Trevon Griffith who was part of the Guyana Jaguars batting line-up. The latest round of tests was conducted on Sunday.
The Barbados Pride have already named Zachary McCaskie and Tevyn Walcott as replacements for the Hopes, while Kemol Savory has been named as the replacement for Griffith in the Jaguars squad.
The trio will remain in their respective territories where there will be required to follow local COVID-19 protocols.
All other members of the Barbados Pride and Guyana Jaguars squads returned negative COVID-19 tests and will undergo second tests on Thursday, January 28 before travelling for the tournament, as part of CWI's established protocols.
The CG Insurance Super50 Cup will be played at the Coolidge Cricket Ground and Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua from Sunday, February 7 to Saturday, February 27. On opening day, Leeward Islands Hurricanes will host arch-rivals Windward Islands Volcanoes at CCG.
Opener Montcin Hodge, not out on 21, and left-hander Amir Jangoo, not out on 22, batted through a little more than an hour to keep the Jaguars attack at bay as the Leewards were 73 for 2 at stumps.
Left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul, the season’s leading bowler, made the breakthrough for the hosts when he bowled Test batsman Kieran Powell for 13 and off-spinner Kevin Sinclair trapped Ross Powell for six.
Hurricanes were 40 for two, but Hodge and Jangoo, the visitors’ draft choice from T&T, shared 33 – unbroken for the third wicket to deny the Jaguars from making further inroads into the batting.
Earlier, Singh fell for exactly 90 – the second time this season he has been dismissed with a hundred within reach – after the Jaguars resumed from their overnight 115 for four.
Fellow left-hander Raymon Reifer supported with 43 and put on 93 for the fifth wicket with Singh; Permaul was not out on 24 and Anthony Bramble added 23 to extend the Jaguars first innings.
Jeremiah Louis cleaned up all three and Sinclair to end with 4-49 from 24 overs and fellow pacer Kian Pemberton grabbed 2-54 from 18.5 overs to bring the innings to a close at 259.
When the teams met on Monday, the final match of the preliminary round, the Jaguars walloped the Volcanoes, who plunged to a nine-wicket defeat. However, Ambris said his team is ready to dust itself off and go to battle once again.
“We started off (the season) really well. I think we played two really poor matches but the camaraderie in the team is still pretty good, the guys are still high-spirited and looking forward to the semi-finals,” he said, adding that he wants the team to get off to a better start with the bat, something that we have been struggling with throughout the season.
“That’s something that we definitely need to address,” he said.
The Volcanoes will be strengthened by the inclusion of Kavem Hodge and Ambris is delighted to have him in the team for the must-win encounter.
“He brings a lot. He is one of the better players in the team. He is an all-rounder. He is more than likely give us 10 overs and he is one of the better batters in the team and he has a lot of experience being a part of the Windward Islands team for the longest while and he knows what it feels like to win a championship, so he will definitely bring a lot to the team,” he said.
A dominant Red Force squad has certainly set the marker as the team to beat this season, and a seventh straight win will cap a flawless performance. In advancing to the final, the Red Force coasted to a comfortable 6 wicket win over the Jamaica Scorpions with 47 balls remaining.
In fact, it is the Red Force who handed today’s opponents, the Guyana Jaguars, their only loss of the season so far, on that occasion also a comfortable win. Pollard believes the team’s dominance so far has been down to getting the personnel just right.
“In terms of personnel, I think we have the right mix – in terms of experience, in terms of youth, in terms of wicket-taking ability, in terms of flexibility in the batting order and stuff like that,” Pollard said.
“We tried to cover all bases and it has shown that each and every individual that has come into the team has done well despite their varying roles. We’re very flexible in what we’re doing and we take everything on a game-by-game sort of basis.”
At Bridgetown, Singh was not out on 56 and leading the Jaguars fight for survival on 141 for 3, after trailing by 180 on first innings.
The Jaguars suffered an early setback when West Indies pacer Kemar Roach trapped Tagenarine Chanderpaul, son of former West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, lbw for six in the fifth over.
Two overs later, the Jags suffered another setback, when Roach struck opener Chandrapaul Hemraj with a sharply rising delivery, forcing him to retire on eight with the total on 15 for one.
Singh came to the crease and started a counter-attack with his captain Leon Johnson in between both being struck on the helmet by fast bowler Chemar Holder.
They put on 53 for the second wicket before Johnson was bowled for 17, playing on to a delivery from Kevin Stoute, and following a 45-minute period of resistance, Christopher Barnwell was caught at long-on from a lofted off left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican.
Barbados-born left-handed all-rounder Raymon Reifer, not out on 17, came to the crease and spent another 45 minutes of resistance before the close with Singh.
The Pride were earlier bowled out for 389 about an hour and five minutes after lunch, having resumed from their overnight total of 239 for three.
Kyle Mayers finished with the top score of 75, fellow left-hander Jonathan Carter supported with 73, Roach made 35, Warrican got 24 and Keon Harding added 21.
Mayers and Carter put on 111 for the fourth wicket, but they were two of the four wickets Pride lost for 16 in the space of 22 balls before Roach anchored stands of 37 and 46 with Warrican and Harding respectively, that extended the innings past lunch.
Keon Joseph was the most successful Jaguars bowler with 4-75 from 22.2 overs and rookie, fellow pacer Nial Smith captured 2-84 from 25 overs.
The Jaguars, thanks to 189 from skipper Leon Johnson, and 107 from Christopher Barnwell had made light work of the Volcanoes’ 318 all-out in the first innings, scoring 426.
That 318 was made on the back of half-centuries from Kaveem Hodge, 53, Keron Cottoy, 56, and Shane Shillingford, 53.
Devendra Bishoo, 4-73, and Veerasammy Permaul, 4-59, were the best of the Jaguars bowling before their batsmen found it easy going to score 426.
Batting a second time, the Volcanoes made it to 46-1 at the close of play on the third day.
Devon Smith, 16, and Hodge, 17, are the not-out batsmen with Cato the only man back in the pavilion, falling leg-before off the bowling of Raymon Reifer.
Although the Red Force has clearly been the team of the tournament so far, with six straight wins, The Jaguars not been too far behind with five wins. In fact, the team’s lone loss came against the T&T Red Force in the 13th match of the season, a six-wicket defeat at Coolidge.
On that occasion, on the back of an unbeaten 82 from Jason Mohammed and 58 from Darren Bravo, the Red Force cruised to a comfortable win. Johnson is confident of turning the tables this time around.
“The mood is good in the camp. Obviously, Trinidad are unbeaten and have played good cricket but I think once we execute our plans well, it will be a good game of cricket,” Mohammed said.
“I don’t see why the Jaguars shouldn’t come out on top. I think fielding will be a major aspect; obviously, to win a championship against a quality Red Force we need to be exceptional in the field.”
