Batsman Kevlon Anderson will captain the Guyana Harpy Eagles at the upcoming West Indies Championship.
The 23-year-old has scored 529 runs in seven First Class games at an average of 44.08.
On Saturday, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) named a strong unit led by the former West Indies Under-19 batsman, consisting of a few familiar faces and a new crop of players.
Leg-pinner Steven Sankar is among the new faces in the squad, following a breakthrough year with the ball at the domestic level.
Opener Raymond Perez, following his immaculate batting form, which rolled over from 2023, will get his chance to play at the senior level.
All-rounder Ronaldo Alimohamed, returns to the squad after being an injury replacement in 2020 and having played 50-over cricket for Guyana at the senior level.
According to a release from the Guyana Cricket Board, Alimohamed, Perez and Sankar will likely make their debut.
Additionally, middle-order batsman Akshaya Persaud makes a return to the Harpy Eagles unit.
Matthew Nandu will be Anderson’s deputy as “they lead a well-balanced side featuring a few veterans among the new faces.”
Lead spinner Veerasammy Permaul, Anthony Adams, and West Indies’ latest Test player, Kevin Sinclair, will form a quality spin department.
Fast bowlers Ronsford Beaton, Nial Smith, and Alimohamed will make up the front-line seam unit, adding to their star-studded spin bowler batch.
Test opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Nandu, Sinclair, Perez, Anderson, and Persaud will look to carry the Eagle’s batting unit.
Kemol Savory will be the wicket-keeper for the first two rounds until Tevin Imlach returns from West Indies duties.
Savory is also expected to play a vital role in the batting department.
The Harpy Eagles Head Coach is Ryan Hercules with the Assistant Coach being Garvin Nedd. Ryerson Bhagoo is the Analyst, and Albert Clements is the Manager.
Meanwhile, this year’s Four-Day Championship will significantly increase prize money as the winning team will pocket US$250,000, while the runner-up will receive US$100,000.
Harpy Eagles open their campaign against Trinidad and Tobago Red Force when the Championship bowls off in St. Kitts on February 7.
SQUAD: Kevlon Anderson (C), Matthew Nandu (VC), Nial Smith, Veerasammy Permaul, Antony Adams, Kevin Sinclair, Ronsford Beaton, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Akshaya Persaud, Raymond Perez, Ronaldo Alimohamed, Steven Sankar and Kemol Savory.
IPL: Fraser-McGurk leads the way as Capitals hold off Mumbai
Delhi Capitals withstood Mumbai Indian’s late surge and held on for a 10-run victory at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Jake Fraser-McGurk top-scored with 84 – hitting 50 off just 15 balls – while Tristan Stubbs (48) and Shai Hope (41) also chipped in with important contributions as the Capitals set a target of 258.
Mukesh Kumar (3/59) and Rasikh Salam (3/34) did their best to halt Mumbai’s revival, but they turned up the pressure to require 25 runs from the final over.
However, despite Luke Wood and Piyush Chawla’s best efforts, Delhi held out for a second successive win.
Data debrief
Wood almost made amends after conceding 68 runs during the opening innings – the joint-most in the IPL this season, matching Reece Topley’s tally against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Tilak Varma led Mumbai’s attempted revival with 63 for his sixth half-century in the IPL, though they have all come in defeats
Chase outdone by opposite number Paudel as West Indies A suffer four-wicket loss to Nepal
West Indies A’s tour of Nepal got off to an unfortunate start, after they suffered a four-wicket loss to their host in a high scoring opening fixture of their five-match Twenty20 series at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, on Saturday.
Set a formidable 204 by West Indies A, Nepal’s thrilling victory, which was set up by a captain’s knock from Rohit Paudel, etched their names in the history books, as they successfully got to their target at 206-6 with two balls to spare.
Paudel smashed a 54-ball 112, including 10 fours and two sixes to see his team to a 1-0 lead in the series, which West Indies Head coach Darren Sammy said offers his team a chance to define roles and personnel more clearly for their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad.
However, the Caribbean side’s all-round effort was found wanting, as only captain Roston Chase (74), Alick Athanaze (47) and Keacy Carty (38) offered any resistance with the bat, while only Obed McCoy (2-34) and Matthew Forde (2-49) had some semblance of success with the ball.
Scores: West Indies A 204-5 (20 overs); Nepal 206-6 (19.4 overs)
Asked to take first strike, after losing the toss, West Indies A suffered an early blow, as they lost Johnson Charles (zero) off the last ball of the opening over, with 16 runs on the board. Andre Fletcher (13) stuck two sixes off five balls, before he too departed via the run-out route, leaving West Indies A at 43-2 in the fourth over.
However, Athanaze went about business, striking three sixes and five fours in a 25-ball knock, as he put on 43 for the third wicket with Chase, prior to his demise. From there, Chase and Carty added another 60 runs in a fourth-wicket stand that defined the innings.
Carty’s 38 off 26 balls, included two fours and three sixes, while Chase, who anchored the innings with a captain’s knock, struck nine fours and two sixes in his 46-ball 74. Kadeem Alleyne, on 14, and Keemo Paul, one, were left not out.
No Nepal bowler took more than one wicket.
With runs on the board, West Indies A would have felt confident of wrapping up a win, even more so, after Forde and McCoy combined to remove openers Anil Sah (five) and Kushal Bhurtel (16) to have Nepal at 38-2 in the fifth over.
West Indies remained in the ascendancy when Fletcher and Charles combined to run out Kushal Malla (16), leaving their host on the ropes at 82-3 at the halfway mark.
However, Paudel showed class, in not only reviving his team’s innings, but pushed them all the way with some aggressive stroke play, assisted by wayward bowling from West Indies A attack at times. Dipendra Singh Airee (24) offered support to his captain in getting Nepal across the line for a famous victory.
Bairstow hails 'ballistic' Kings after record IPL run chase
Jonny Bairstow saluted "ballistic" Punjab Kings following their historic Indian Premier League victory over Kolkata Knight Riders.
The England batter scored an unbeaten century as the Kings successfully chased down 262 - the highest in T20 history - with eight balls to spare at Eden Gardens.
Bairstow hit a wonderful 108 not out from 48 balls - with nine sixes along the way - while Shashank Singh chipped in with 68 from 28 deliveries as the Kings ended their four-game losing streak.
"We knew that we had to go ballistic after how they batted," said the 34-year-old, who made his second IPL century five years after his first. "We had to take risks, and thankfully they came off.
"I've never been faced with a target like that before. So, we knew the powerplay would be important, and if anything is close to being in your area, you've got to make the most of it."
The performances of Bairstow and Singh contributed towards further history, with the overall tally of 42 sixes the highest recorded in a single T20 match.
"Cricket has turned to baseball, hasn't it?!" Punjab skipper Sam Curran added. "Guys can hit balls for long periods of time, the coaches, training, the dew, dot balls become wide after reviews and you get the extra ball. Stats are going of the window."
KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer was left disappointed to see his side's impressive haul overturned, but urged his team-mates to learn from the experience.
"Both teams played tremendously. You have to go back to the drawing board and see where you went wrong," he said. "Not defending hurts, but it's a great lesson for the players."
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