Shermon Lewis has led the way for the Windward Islands Volcanoes with 4-22 so far in the Scorpions second innings.
The Windward Islands Volcanoes are on the brink of a comfortable outright win over the Jamaica Scorpions in their third-round fixture at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.
In pursuit of 415 to win, the Scorpions started the day by losing opener Kirk McKenzie for just one in the fifth over with the score on seven.
Leroy Lugg, after adding a further 21 with Nkrumah Bonner, was next to go, LBW off the bowling of Justin Greaves for 15 in the 13th over.
The third wicket fell when Bonner was dismissed by left-arm spinner Larry Edward in the 18th over for 17.
At lunch, the Scorpions were 52-3 off 27 overs, needing a further 363 runs for victory, with captain Paul Palmer Jr and Abhijai Mansingh at the crease on 10 and 0, respectively.
Palmer was the only man to be dismissed in the post-lunch session for the Scorpions, going for 21 in the 34th over with the score on 68.
Mansingh and Aldane Thomas combined to stage a revival for Jamaica with a 78-run fifth wicket partnership to leave the Scorpions 146-4 at tea, needing 269 runs to win. Thomas was on 43 while Mansingh was on 32.
The pair continued to provide some resistance after tea, adding a further 19 runs before Thomas was dismissed by Larry Edward for a fighting 55 off 102 balls.
Mansingh’s was next to go, LBW off Kenneth Dember for 50 to leave the Scorpions 196-6 off 82.5 overs.
The next two fell with the score on 204 in the 87th over as Jamie Merchant (5) and Marquino Mindley (0) both fell to Sherman Lewis.
Derval Green provided some entertaining batting toward the end of the day, making 48 before he became the ninth man to go leaving the Scorpions 232-9 after 97 overs.
In the end, final pair Nicholson Gordon and Patrick Harty survived the rest of the day as Jamaica found themselves 233-9 off 99 overs at stumps, needing a further 182 runs for an unlikely win on day four.
Shermon Lewis has, so far, taken 4-22 off his 14 overs for the Volcanoes.
Scores: Windward Islands Volcanoes 217 off 60.3 overs (Alick Athanaze 81, Justin Greaves 50, Derval Green 5-30, Nicholson Gordon 2-26, Jamie Merchant 2-39) and 300 off 78.5 overs (Alick Athanaze 97, Kavem Hodge 82, Justin Greaves 33, Patrick Harty 3-63, Marquino Mindley 2-45, Nicholson Gordon 2-59)
Jamaica Scorpions 101 off 28.3 overs (Derval Green 33, Jamie Merchant 24, Justin Greaves 6-34, Shermon Lewis 2-29, Ryan John 2-38) and 233-9 off 99 overs (Aldane Thomas 55, Abhijai Mansingh 50, Derval Green 48, Shermon Lewis 4-22, Justin Greaves 2-42, Larry Edward 2-65).
Harpy Eagles pacer Ronsford Beaton reported for suspect action, suspended
Ronsford Beaton, the Guyana Harpy Eagles fast bowler, was reported for a suspect bowling action during the ongoing West Indies Championship four-day first-class competition.
Beaton’s action was cited by match officials during the fourth round match between Guyana Harpy Eagles and Jamaica Scorpions at the Guyana National Stadium.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) confirmed that the Opinion Report by the Independent Assessor at Loughborough University, has found Beaton’s bowling action to be illegal and, as such, he has been suspended from bowling with immediate effect.
South Africa fall short of another big run chase as Windies take series
West Indies avoided a repeat of their remarkable, record-breaking defeat in the second T20I against South Africa by clinging on to win the series decider by seven runs.
The Windies had been on the wrong end of a historic run chase in the sides' previous encounter, the highest scoring Twenty20 match since the format was introduced.
But there would be no repeat in Johannesburg on Tuesday, even if Reeza Hendricks again made life difficult for the tourists after another strong Windies score of 220-8.
Hendricks was credited by centurion Quinton de Kock with inspiring the Proteas fightback in the second match, having contributed 68 off just 28 balls.
Missing De Kock's support, it was a one-man effort this time as Hendricks scored 83 off 43, not quite enough with South Africa falling short on 213-6.
West Indies had posted the second-highest T20I total not to include a single fifty but were also themselves grateful for the work of one batter in particular.
In a blockbuster conclusion to the first innings, Romario Shepherd had scored 26 from the final over to top-score with 44 from only 22 balls – the knock that ultimately proved the difference.
Phenomenal finish sees Windies safe
South Africa handed the ball to Kagiso Rabada with some confidence ahead of the 20th over, with the bowling superstar having restricted the Windies to 2-24 from his previous three overs.
Yet Shepherd, twice put down by De Kock, smashed Rabada all around the ground to set a daunting target. As a result, the Proteas needed to match Shepherd with 26 off the last but could only manage 18.
Repeat proves beyond Proteas
While Hendricks remained in the middle, it appeared very possible South Africa would pull off another stunning recovery. It would have been a record-breaking fifth successful 200-run chase in the format.
However, West Indies kept their nerve, crucially having Hendricks caught by captain Rovman Powell at long on in the 19th over. The Windies still have not lost a T20I series in South Africa, with two wins and a draw.
Powell saves 5-year-old ball-boy from injury by avoiding boundary collision during second South Africa T20I
West Indies captain Rovman Powell got injured while trying to save a 5-year-old ball boy at the edge of the boundary area during the second T20 International against South Africa on Sunday, March 26.
Powell, while chasing a ball towards the boundary, avoided a potentially catastrophic collision and chose to get hurt himself.
The incident occurred in the third over of the South Africa chase when Quinton de Kock hit the ball towards the long off boundary.
Powell gave chase and was inside the dive length to pull the ball back into the field before it touched the boundary. The West Indies captain, however, saw a five-year-old ball boy trying to get to the edge of line and catch the ball and decided to abort the chase in the last minute.
The West Indies captain then jumped over the boy and the boundary line and crashed into the LED boards, before toppling over.
Visibly shaken from the incident, Powell had to be treated at the side-line and took a decent amount of time to get back into the field.
As for the game, South Africa won by six wickets after pulling off a record chase. The West Indies posted 258-5 off their 20 overs and the South Africans needed only 18.5 overs to reach 259-4.
The third T20I takes place at Wanderers in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
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