Following his epic unbeaten maiden Test century in Grenada on Saturday, West Indies wicketkeeper/batsman Joshua da Silva has come in for lavish praise from compatriot Brian Lara, one of the greatest batsmen of all time.
In a marathon innings lasting 257 balls, the 23-year-old da Silva scored 100 not out as the West Indies chasing England’s first innings score of 204, made 297 all out in the third and final Apex test in Grenada.
He was the sheet anchor in key partnerships of 33 with Kyle Mayers, 49 with Alzarri Joseph, 68 with Kemar Roach and 52 with Jayden Seales to help the West Indies recover from a precarious 95-6 into a position of ascendancy.
For Lara, it was a joy to watch.
“The discipline and mental strength this young man showed was admirable. The partnerships with the lower order to get us into this winning position is what Test cricket is all about,” said Lara, who is currently in India as the batting coach for IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The man who scored a mammoth 11953 runs from 131 Tests for the West Indies also lavished praise for da Silva’s teammates as well.
“It will be remiss of me not to congratulate all the batters and bowlers that fought throughout the series culminating into this on the brink of a series win against England. I salute the captain for his tenacity throughout the series with the bat and his leadership,” said the proud West Indies icon.
“To all players and staff, I commend you and at the same time urge you to continue working on having the appetite to go out there on the battlefield for all five days of a Test match giving your all each and every single time you don the burgundy cap. At the end, you will lose some, draw some and win a lot more but more importantly, you will understand what Test cricket is all about.”
At the time of publication, the West Indies were chasing 28 runs for victory after bowling England out for 120 on Sunday.
Kyle Mayers took a career-best 5-18, Kemar Roach 2-10 while there was a wicket each for Jayden Seales and Alzarri Joseph.
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Wood and Mayers heroics lead Super Giants to victory over Capitals
Kyle Mayers and Mark Wood got their Indian Premier League campaigns off to brilliant starts as Lucknow Super Giants beat Delhi Capitals by 50 runs.
The Super Giants boasted the best performers with both bat and ball, as Mayers' 73 from 38 deliveries and Wood's 5-14 led them to a comfortable win on Saturday.
Lucknow's hopes were hit when key man and captain KL Rahul dismissed for 19 in the fourth over, and his replacement Mayers was hugely fortunate not to be sent packing on 14 when he was dropped by Khaleel Ahmed.
Mayers took advantage of that reprieve, plundering 59 more runs before finally succumbing to a peach of a delivery from Axar Patel that clipped the top of off stump.
Though that wicket slowed Lucknow's progress, they smashed 62 off the final four overs.
Delhi's chase got off to a fantastic start, racing to 33 for no loss off the first three overs, but a magnificent spell from Wood saw him dismiss Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh and Sarfaraz Khan to halt the Capitals' momentum.
Avesh Khan landed the hammer blow when he removed David Warner (56) with the Capital's captain caught by Krishnappa Gowtham.
Warner's men would tack on just 30 more runs, falling 50 short of the winning total as Wood sealed his five-for with the penultimate ball of the innings.
Mayers punishes Khaleel drop
The game could have been very different had Khaleel held on after Mayers tried to slog a slower ball from Chetan Sakariya.
Instead, the ball agonisingly hit the turf and Mayers went on to register two fours and seven maximums on his IPL debut, reaching his half-century after just 28 balls to truly exploit Khaleel's mistake.
Lightning quick pace from Wood halts Capitals' chase
A sublime couple of overs from Wood completely altered the momentum in Delhi's chase and put his team back in the ascendancy.
Wood's first game for Lucknow saw him earn player of the match honours.
Windwards Volcanoes beat Barbados Pride by 121 runs at Queen’s Park Oval
The Windward Islands Volcanoes completed a dominant 121-run win over the Barbados Pride on day four of their final round fixture at the Queen’s Park Oval on Saturday.
The Pride started the day 28-3 off 17 overs with Jonathan Drakes and Chaim Holder at the crease on nine and zero, respectively.
Drakes eventually went on to make a top score of 35 while Holder made nine and Kevin Wickham 11 as the Pride found themselves quickly on the back foot at 89-6 off 37.3 overs.
In the end, Kenneth Dember led the way with 5-26 off 13 overs as the Pride were dismissed for 114 in 47 overs.
Larry Edward finished with nine wickets in the match after taking 3-38 off 17 overs.
Sinclair takes 6-33 as Harpy Eagles produce spectacular final day comeback to defeat Hurricanes by 17 runs at Providence and secure West Indies Championship title
The Guyana Harpy Eagles find themselves at the pinnacle of regional first-class cricket once again after completing a stunning comeback on the final day of their final round fixture against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes at Providence to secure their sixth hold on the West Indies Championship title in eight years.
The Hurricanes entered day four in the driver’s seat, being 81-1 needing just 62 more runs for victory with nine wickets in the shed. Kieran Powell and Keacy Carty were the batsmen at the crease on 47 and 17, respectively.
The Leewards lost their first wicket of day four when Kevin Sinclair removed Carty for 21 before trapping Devon Thomas in front for a duck two balls later.
The Hurricanes then went on to lose their final seven wickets for just 17 runs as the Harpy Eagles completed a spectacular final day comeback.
Their efforts were led by Kevin Sinclair’s career-best figures of 6-33 off 16.5 overs while Veerasammy Permaul took 3-44 from his 15 overs.
The Harpy Eagles ended the campaign with 84 points, 9.8 points ahead of the Windward Islands Volcanoes in second.
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