Jamaica Scorpions debutant Abhijai Mansingh, who entered the match as a substitute after Alwyn Williams was ruled out on the first day, played a starring role to help his team secure a tense draw on day four of their West Indies Championship fixture against the Leeward Island’s Hurricanes at the Coolidge Cricket Ground on Sunday.
Day four began with the Hurricanes on 198-7 off 65 overs, leading by 224 runs with Cornwall on 56 and Hayden Walsh Jr on 13.
The first wicket of the day fell in the 69th over when Walsh Jr fell for 23 with the score on 221.
The final two Hurricanes wickets fell in consecutive deliveries in the 74th over when Jamie Merchant removed Cornwall for 85 and Sheeno Berridge for one. In the end, the Leewards were bowled out for 241 in 73.5 overs, leaving the Scorpions needing 268 for victory.
Jamie Merchant ended with 4-43 off his 20.5 overs.
The Scorpions chase started well as openers Kirk McKenzie and Leroy Lugg put on 32 in 6.5 overs before a rain delay forced the teams into an early lunch break.
After the resumption, the pair added just five more runs before Lugg fell caught behind off the bowling of Sheeno Berridge for seven in the ninth over.
Two runs and one over later, McKenzie fell in a similar fashion off the bowling of Jeremiah Louis for 28.
Romaine Morris and Aldane Thomas then put on a 34-run third wicket partnership before Thomas chipped one in the air off Collin Archibald and got caught for 12 in the 16th over to leave the Scorpions 73-3.
Morris fell soon after for 22 to leave the score 75-4 in the 19th over. Captain Paul Palmer Jr was next to go for eight in the 26th over, bringing Jamie Merchant to the crease to join Mansingh.
The pair batted beautifully in the lead-up to the tea interval, putting on 60 for the sixth wicket to leave the Scorpions 142-5 at tea, needing 126 runs to win with Mansingh and Merchant both unbeaten on 31.
After the tea break, Merchant reached 47 before falling off the bowling of Cornwall to leave the Scorpions 174-6.
The 51st over saw Mansingh bring up his second fifty of the game off 106 balls.
Mansingh and Marquino Mindley brought the score up to 183 in the 58th over before Mindley became the seventh wicket to fall, caught off the bowling of Kofi James for three.
Akim Fraser became Cornwall’s fourth victim of the innings when he was trapped in front for one to leave the Scorpions 194-8. With no more runs added, Cornwall took his tenth wicket of the match when he removed Gordon Bryan for a duck, leaving the Hurricanes needing just one wicket to secure victory.
In the end, Mansingh ended up not out on 62 off 209 balls while Patrick Harty made an important one off 27 balls as the Jamaicans finished 200-9 after 82 overs.
Cornwall ended up with figures of 5-41 off 31 overs.
Scores: Leeward Islands Hurricanes 260 off 118.3 overs (Jeremiah Louis 78*, Jahmar Hamiton 40, Marquino Mindley 3-29, Abhijai Mansingh 3-47) and 241 off 73.5 overs (Rakheem Cornwall 85, Montcin Hodge 31, Jamie Merchant 4-43, Abhijai Mansingh 2-30, Patrick Harty 2-56)
Jamaica Scorpions 234 off 82.4 overs (Leroy Lugg 79, Abhijai Mansingh 56, Paul Palmer Jr 47, Rakheem Cornwall 5-54, Sheeno Berridge 2-25, Colin Archibald 2-37) and 200-9 off 82 overs (Abhijai Mansingh 62*, Jamie Merchant 47, Kirk McKenzie 28, Rakheem Cornwall 5-41)
Bradley Jacks is a budding journalist and an avid sports fan. His love of research and sports has led him to SportsMax.tv, a place where those passions work hand in hand to allow him to produce content.
Narine, Hinds on the losing end of court ruling regarding bar rental
Trinidad and Tobago cricketers Sunil Narine and Terrence Hinds have found themselves on the losing side of a court ruling and are now left to fork up just over $60,000 after a business arrangement with a former landlord went sideways.
Justice Ricky Rahim ordered Narine and Hinds to compensate Dave Kangal for a breach of contract after they rented a bar from the claimant at Oropune Gardens in Piarco.
Though Narine’s role in the issue is unfortunate as he was merely rendering financial assistance to Hinds in the business venture, the judge could not ignore the fact that he was also named as a tenant on the agreement dated July 1, 2020.
Interestingly, it was the players that first took Kangal to court, citing a breach of a tenancy contract, before the landlord counterclaimed and won. As such, Narine and Hinds will have to pay $62,246.90 plus interest as outstanding rent, as well as a half of Kangal’s legal fees.
According to Trinidad Express, the judge, in his written ruling delivered on Thursday, found that the two were actually owing Kangal $130,500 in unpaid rent. However, the figure was reduced as the court also found that Narine and Hinds were to be reimbursed $68,263.10 for renovations and improvements to the bar.
Hinds contended that $100,000 was actually spent on renovations and improvements, but he was unable to present some of the receipts to support his claim.
“The chips must lie where they fall. On the other hand, the court was taken aback by the tenor of the dealings between Terrance and Anna (Hinds' sister) on one hand and the defendant on the other,” the judge shared.
“There is a strong inference that they sought to take advantage of the apparent lack of understanding and naivete to a certain extent of the defendant to his disadvantage and to their benefit,” he added.
Mooney's 43* guides Australia to win over Sri Lanka
Australia produced a strong showing as they defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets to get the defense of their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup crown off to the best possible start.
Sri Lanka chose to bat first in Sharjah but struggled to 93 for seven, with Nilakshika Silva top scoring with an unbeaten 29.
Australia showed it was not easy going for either team but could rely on Beth Mooney, who battled through the energy-sapping sun to make 43 not out and see her team home with 5.4 overs to spare.
Sri Lanka needed a positive start against the world number one side, who put the squeeze on from the outset - with 10 balls passing until the first run was scored and Vishmi Gunaratne departing for a duck.
Captain, Chamari Athapaththu soon followed for just three as Australia successfully reviewed an LBW decision with Ashleigh Gardner claiming her first wicket.
Sri Lanka’s first boundary came as Harshitha Samarawickrama took advantage of a free hit with a four after Australia’s third no ball of the innings.
Australia made some unwanted history with a record fifth no ball as Darcie Brown's first over cost 12, taking Sri Lanka to 23 for two at the end of the powerplay. They regained control when Sophie Molineux picked up their third LBW wicket of the innings and Sri Lanka lost the second of their two reviews.
Samarawickrama helped push the score to 43 for three at the halfway stage and was reprieved on 20 as Brown put down a catch as she slid in from extra cover.
The wicketkeeper made only three more runs however, as Molineux got her second wicket with a simple caught and bowled on an impressive return to the World Cup stage after injury trouble.
Silva provided some resistance without improving the scoring rate, finishing on 29 not out from 40 balls.
Her 34-run partnership with Anushka Sanjeewani was ended by Megan Schutt, who took two wickets in two balls to tie Shabnim Ismail for the most T20 World Cup wickets with 43 as Sri Lanka posted 93 for seven.
Australia lost captain Alyssa Healy in the opening over of the reply as she was clean bowled by Udeshika Prabodhani.
The gamble to promote Georgia Wareham up the order did not pay off as she was run out thanks to smart fielding from Kavisha Dilhari to leave Australia at 14 for two.
It was left to the uber-calm Mooney to steer the chase and she steered Australia to 62 for three at the halfway stage alongside Gardner.
The partnership was eventually broken at 43 as Gardner skied a shot that Samarawickrama gladly gobbled up, but it only postponed the inevitable.
Mooney ended on 43 not out, as she picked up where she left off in World Cup cricket, having been named Player of the Final in 2023 for her 78 not out in their victory.
Australia too continued their winning form at World Cups with a 12th victory in a row to triumph by six wickets.
Scores in brief
Australia v Sri Lanka at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Sri Lanka 93/7 in 20 overs (Nilakshika Silva 29 not out, Harshitha Samarawickrama 23; Megan Schutt 3/12, Sophie Molineux 2/20)
Australia 94/4 in 14.2 overs (Beth Mooney 43 not out, Ellyse Perry 17; Sugandika Kumari 1/16, Udeshika Prabodani 1/19)
Result: Australia won by six wickets
Matthews hopeful Windies can bounce back against Scotland on Sunday
After an undesirable start to their Women’s T20 World Cup campaign, West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews is hopeful that her team can turn around their fortune and possibly challenge for a spot in the semi-final.
Matthews’ optimism follows their 10-wicket hammering by South Africa in their opening fixture in Dubai on Friday.
In that contest, Matthews believes her team failed to properly acclimatize to the conditions, as they mustered a meagre 118 for six in their 20 overs. South Africa, led by half-centuries from Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits, then made light work of the target at 119 without loss in 17.5 overs.
However, with Scotland being the Caribbean side’s next assignment on Sunday morning, Matthews says they will have to pick up the pieces and bounce back.
“Obviously a pretty disappointing game (against South Africa). Firstly, not scoring enough runs on the board, and we would have liked to have taken a few wickets and at least put up a bit more of a fight in the second innings,” Matthews said.
“But with a game in two days’ time, we’re going to have to get things back together quickly and pick up the pieces and go again,” she added.
Reflecting on the outcome against South Africa, Matthews felt her team was undone by challenging conditions.
“It’s pretty hot here in Dubai. I’d probably have to say the hottest place I’ve ever played cricket or even been, and that’s someone coming from the West Indies. It’s definitely been some difficult conditions. We’ve been here for about two weeks, thankfully, and we’ve been able to acclimatise as much as we possibly can to conditions like this,” Matthews shared.
She continued: “I think we came down here expecting some pretty good wickets. We’ve camped here quite a bit when we went to Pakistan in April, and we tend to spend some time down here training, so we knew what the ICC Academy grounds were like, and those were pretty decent wickets early.
“It wasn’t a bad wicket. South Africa showed you can really bat on a wicket like that and even us in parts. Stafanie Taylor was able to take charge of the game as well throughout the middle. I don’t think the conditions surprised us too much. We probably just didn’t adapt to them as well.”
Matthews also addressed concerns surrounding Zaida James, who was hit in the face, and Taylor, who appeared to be cramping and had difficulty running between the wickets.
“For Zaida, it was pretty much just a knock on her face. I think the seam might have hit her in the face, so she was in a bit of discomfort. There’s a bit of swelling around her jaw, but she’s a tough girl, so hopefully it’s just one of those knocks that you get on the field, and hopefully she’ll be able to be out on the field for the next match,” Matthews noted.
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