The Windward Islands Volcanoes opened up their 2024 CG United Super50 Cup campaign with an improbable one-wicket win over the Guyana Harpy Eagles at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on Tuesday.

The Harpy Eagles, after winning the toss and choosing to bat first, posted a respectable 274-5 from their 50 overs thanks to half centuries from captain Tevin Imlach and Keemo Paul.

Imlach led the way with an unbeaten 67-ball 65 including five fours and a six while Paul batted through to the end alongside his skipper to finish 54* off just 25 balls, hitting one four and six sixes.

Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Kevlon Anderson also provided excellent contributions with 49 and 42, respectively, against 2-53 off eight overs from Shadrack Descarte.

The Windwards then, after finding themselves struggling at 58-5 in the 12th over, pulled off an improbable chase, reaching 277-9 with three balls to spare in the end.

The major catalysts for the successful chase were Descarte and wicketkeeper Dillon Douglas, playing only his second List A game.

The pair added a crucial 81 runs for the sixth wicket before Descarte fell in the 26th over for a well-played 60 off 62 balls including seven fours and a six.

After the fall of that wicket, Douglas continued on, eventually falling for a top score of 90 from 100 balls in the 43rd over with the score on 223.

Douglas hit eight fours and two sixes in his excellent knock.

Darel Cyrus, batting at nine, contributed a crucial 29 alongside Douglas but fell with just over four overs left with the Volcanoes needing a further 30 runs for victory.

Those runs proved no problem for final pair Kenneth Dember and Gilon Tyson who batted brilliantly to lead the Volcanoes to an improbable victory.

Dember finished 20* off 18 balls while Tyson made 17* off 13 balls.

Pacer Nial Smith took 3-46 off 9.4 overs while Kevin Sinclair took 2-66 off his 10 overs.

The Harpy Eagles will next face CCC at the Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground on October 31 while the Windwards Volcanoes will face the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on November 1.

Full Scores:

Guyana Harpy Eagles 274-5 off 50 overs (Tevin Imlach 65*, Keemo Paul 54*, Tagenarine Chanderpaul 49, Kevlon Anderson 42, Shadrack Descarte 2-53)

Windward Islands Volcanoes 277-9 off 49.3 overs (Dillon Douglas 90, Shadrack Descarte 60, Nial Smith 3-46, Kevin Sinclair 2-66).

 

The Windward Islands picked up their second win of the 2023 CG United Women’s Super50 Cup, defeating the Leeward Islands by eight wickets at Warner Park on Wednesday.

After winning the toss and bowling first, the Windwards made easy work of the Leewards. By the 19th over, the Leewards were all out as left arm spinner Qiana Joseph picked up her first career hat trick as part of a five-wicket haul. 

Divya Saxena was the lone Leewards batter to reach double figures and she remained unbeaten on 44 as her team was all out for 59.

Joseph had figures of 5-0-14-5, while seamer Jannillea Glasgow had 5-3-11-2.

In reply, the Windwards openers added 48 before Malika Edward was the first to go for 31. Namiah Marcellin made 12, then skipper Afy Fletcher smashed two boundaries on her way to 11 not out as the Windwards reached victory in 15.1 overs.

“Our team plans were the same as we did against Guyana. We wanted to bowl first and we got the toss win. It was exciting to bowl them out for less than 60, the plan worked faster than we expected,” said Windwards vice-captain Jannillea Glasgow to CWI Media after the match.

“We just have to continue sticking to the basics heading into the rest of matches. Qiana just kept that momentum from the Guyana game and she was buzzing around. To our competitors, we are coming for them, we are not backing down,” she added.

At Conaree Sports Ground, a batting masterclass by skipper Hayley Matthews took defending champions Barbados to their second win is as many matches with a nine-wicket victory over Guyana.

Batting first, Guyana’s struggles with the bat continued. Sheneta Grimmond top-scored with 24, while skipper Shemaine Campbelle and Kaysia Schultz made 21 each, as they posted 121 all out in 34.3 overs. Shakera Selman, Shamilia Connell, Hayley Matthews and Keila Elliott all grabbed two wickets apiece.

It was then the Matthews show as she shared in a 109-run opening stance with Kycia Knight who made 40. Matthews smashed four sixes and eight fours to finish the innings on 72 not out from 42 deliveries as Barbados needed just 17.1 overs to reach their target.

In the day’s other game, Trinidad and Tobago Red Force Divas pulled off a thrilling one-wicket victory over Jamaica at the St. Paul’s ground.

Batting first, Natasha McLean (59) rescued Jamaica’s innings, after their top-order collapsed at 19/4 in 13.5 overs.

McLean and Chedean Nation (24) then shared in a 59-run partnership as Jamaica reached 123 all out in 39.4 overs. 

Teenager Samara Ramnath dominated with her off-breaks as she finished with figures of 7.4-4-13-5 while Kirbyina Alexander was next best with 7-1-17-2.

Britney Cooper led the Red Force Divas run-chase with a top-score of 53 as T&T pulled off the thrilling win. Vanessa Watts was the top Jamaican bowler with figures of 10-4-16-3, followed by Celina Whyte with 9-0-24-2.

 

Jamaica Scorpions spinner Dennis Bulli has credited a strong showing in the CGI insurance Super50 tournament with getting a good opportunity to showcase his talent.

The 35-year-old Bulli was one of the standout bowlers for the tournament and claimed an impressive 14 wickets in 6 matches, with an economy rate of 4.76.  Despite playing two fewer matches, the spinner was just one wicket off the top spot occupied by Shannon Gabriel (15), Odean Smith (15), and Nicholas Gordon (15).

In Saturday’s final, the left-arm spinner's mesmerizing skills were on full display when he left Trinidad and Tobago Red Force batsman Darren Bravo bamboozled all ends up, to take the crucial wicket of the dangerous batsman and end with figures of 1 for 44.

With a tournament best of 4 for 32, against the West Indies Academy, Bulli, who has not always managed to find consistency, was one of the key reasons the team was able to win the first Super50 title in 10 years.

“I’ve had times but I never got a good enough chance to express myself but this has been one of those times,” Bulli said of his performances this season.

“The first time I really got a chance to express myself was in 2019 and I did well.  I got called up for the President’s XI team and got injured, got picked for the CPL, and got covid.  So this is another opportunity and a good time for me to show what I can do.”

Jamaica assistant coach Nikita Miller insists the team can afford to take nothing for granted when they face Trinidad and Tobago, in the final of the CGI Insurance Super50 Cup, on Saturday.

The Jamaicans will be looking to claim their first title since 2012 and should enter the match with some confidence after a strong batting performance against Guyana on Thursday, in the semi-finals,  and four straight wins.

Miller knows, however, that the challenge will be different against an in-form Trinidad and Tobago who have lost just once this season.

“We will have to plan for Trinidad’s game differently.  We have gone to a couple of their games and looked at some footage and we'll plan our approach,” Miller said ahead of the game.

Trinidad and Tobago were the zone A winners after finishing ahead of Guyana, while Jamaica won zone B ahead of the Leeward Islands.

“We’re looking forward to it we are not going into that game overconfident.  We know that they are playing good cricket and they know that we are playing good cricket as well,” Miller added.

The Jamaicans managed to defeat Trinidad and Tobago in the final the last time they won the trophy.   

Wicketkeeper-batsman Jahmar Hamilton's run-a-ball half century lifted the Leewards Islands to a 4-wicket win over the West Indies Academy in the CG INSURANCE SUPER50 CUP at North Sound on Wednesday.

Batting first, resilient lower order batting from Joshua James, who scored an in innings high 73 from 77, led the Windies Academy to 211 all-out after a few problems at the top order.  Middle order batsman Ackeem Auguste also made an important contribution.  Auguste added 44 from 53 deliveries after coming to the crease with the team struggling at 78 for 5.

Importantly, together James and Auguste added 78 for the 8th wicket.  Spinner Kofi James was the leading bowler for the Leewards, after claiming figures of 4 for 39.

In response, Kieran Powell and Keacey Carty put 44 on the board for the third wicket, as they looked to recover from the early loss of Ross Powell in the second over.  Neither really carried on from good starts though, and the team also lost Terance Ward, for 12, when he was dismissed lbw by Nyeem Young.  Hamilton’s appearance at the crease, however, settled things and Leewards coasted to 213 for 6 with 23 balls remaining.  The batsman was just 9 runs short o a 7th irst lass hundred.  Joshua Bishop led the way with the ball for the West Indies Academy after picking up 2 for 29.

 

Dominican left-hander Alick Athanaze struck a brilliant 133 to help the Windward Islands secure a 28-run victory over the Guyana Harpy Eagles in the CG Insurance Super50 Cup at the Queens Park Oval in Port-of-Spain on Monday.

The Harpy Eagles won the toss and elected to field, quickly regretting that decision as Windward Islands openers Athanaze and Johnson Charles put on 119 before Charles became Gudakesh Motie’s first wicket for a 63-ball 64 in the 23rd over.

Athanaze then belted the bowling all over the Queens Park Oval, putting on a further 127 for the second wicket with Kavem Hodge. In the process, Athanaze brought up his maiden List A hundred, eventually being dismissed for 133 in the 43rd over with the score on 246. His century included 12 fours and four sixes and came off 140 deliveries.

Hodge (42) and captain Andre Fletcher (8) were the other batsmen dismissed as the Windwards were able to post an excellent 296-4 off their 50 overs. Motie took 2-57 for Guyana.

In their reply, Guyana got contributions from most of their batsmen but it wasn’t enough in the end. Opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul, recently called up to the West Indies Test squad for the first time, was the chief scorer with a 47-ball 48 including six fours.

Contributions from Anthony Bramble (18), Leon Johnson (22), Sherfane Rutherford (28) and Kevin Sinclair (33) meant that after 40.1 overs, Guyana found themselves 220-9 needing 77 runs from 59 balls for victory.

The final pair of Gudakesh Motie and Veerasammy Permaul put up a valiant effort with a partnership of 48 before Permaul’s dismissal for 28 meant the Harpy Eagles were bowled out for 268 in 46.4 overs, giving the Windwards the 28-run win. Motie finished 31 not out off 27 balls. Shadrack Descarte took 3-41 off eight overs while Ryan John and Kenneth Dember took 2-54 and 2-46, respectively.

Hayden Walsh scored a timely unbeaten half-century to lead the Leeward Islands Hurricanes to a two-wicket victory over the CWI Emerging Players Academy in the Super50 warm-up match at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua on Sunday.

Walsh struck a 67-ball 53 that included five fours as the Hurricanes, chasing 239, reached 242-8 from 49 hours. The leg-spinner featured in a 54-run seventh-wicket partnership with Jahmar Hamilton, who scored 36 from 37 balls as the Leewards recovered from 93-6.

After Hamilton was dismissed, Walsh and Jeremiah Louis added a further 38 for the eighth-wicket before the latter was dismissed for 24 and the Leewards still 53 runs shy of the target. However, Walsh found a more than useful partner in Colin Archibald, who remained unbeaten on 27 at the end.

Johan Layne took 2-29 and Kevin Wickham 2-47 for the CWI Emerging Players.

Earlier, Teddy Bishop scored a mature 77 in the Emerging Players 238 all out. Wickham contributed 47 with Ackeem Auguste and Leonardo Julien chipping in with 20 apiece.

Bishop and Julien shared in a 78-run second-wicket partnership after Louis had dismissed Kirk McKenzie for eight. He followed up with a third-wicket stand of 68 with Wickham that was broken for Kofi James, who also took the wickets of Auguste and Joshua Bishop to return figures of 4-26.

Terrence Warde took 3-42 while Karima Gore took 2-40.

 

Bangladesh secured a comfortable six-wicket win over the West Indies at Providence in Guyana on Sunday to take a 1-0 lead in their three-match One-Day International series.

The win was Bangladesh’s first win on their tour having lost both the Test and T20 International series 2-0.

The win also means that Bangladesh have now won their last six ODIs against the hosts, a fact that West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran says the team is well aware of.

“We know Bangladesh has had us in the last couple series but that’s ok. I feel like we’re still going to win this series. We’re 1-0 down but we can come again on Wednesday with better plans and punch back,” said Pooran in a post-match interview.

The skipper lamented the team’s lack of runs on the board in the 41 overs-per-side game, being restricted to a subpar 149-9.

“We definitely didn’t have enough runs on the board. If we had got close to 175 or 200 on that wicket, it’d be interesting to see how the game would have turned out. We also could’ve bowled a bit better in the powerplay. It’s going to be a challenge for us but we just need to keep figuring out ways to win cricket games, especially in the ODI format,” Pooran said.

On the other hand, “Fantastic,” was how Pooran described debutant Gudakesh Motie’s performance with the ball.

Motie took his first international wicket on the way to a tidy 1-18 off nine overs.

“He got his opportunity in front of his home crowd and delivered. Unfortunately, he was on the losing side but the way he bowled nine overs for 18 runs is fabulous and we’re expecting him to continue to bowl like this, not just in this series but in the future as well,” he added.

The 27-year-old Motie, who also made his Test debut on this tour, got his chance in the ODI format on the back of a stellar campaign in the 2021 Super 50 Cup which saw him finish as the competition’s leading wicket-taker with 17 wickets in seven matches as Guyana got all the way to the final, losing to Trinidad & Tobago.

 

 

 

 

 

Trinidad and Tobago Red Force captain, Kieron Pollard, believes the team’s all-round balance should be enough to deliver a 13th regional 50-over title, with a win over Guyana Jaguars, in the final of the CG Insurance Super50, on Saturday.

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.”

Trinidad and Tobago Red Force made it six wins in a row, as they produced a commanding performance to power past the Jamaica Scorpions and into the CG Insurance Super50 final.

This victory was set up by three key efforts,  Ravi Rampaul started with the ball and was then complemented by Lendl Simmons and Nicholas Pooran with the bat.

Firstly Rampaul, in claiming his second CG Insurance Man-of-the-Match award of the tournament, with figures of 29 for 4, played a key role in restricting the Scorpions to a below-par score of 255-7 on a very good batting surface.

In reply, batting second for the sixth consecutive match, Simmons (63) scored his 27th List A half-century to set the perfect platform, before Pooran’s unbeaten innings of 54, his 11th List A half-century, finished things off in style with eight overs to spare.

Earlier on, Jamaica lost the early wicket of Aldaine Thomas but after that John Campbell (88) and Brandon King (58) played well. When they reached 95-1 in the 22nd over, King smashed Jason Mohammed for a big straight six to bring up his second half-century of the tournament.

The Red Force would strike five overs later with the Scorpions, at 113-2 in the 27th over, when King gave Anderson Phillip his second wicket, playing back to a delivery that kept a bit low. The wicket ended the 108-run second-wicket alliance between Campbell and King.

At 168-2 in the 35th over, the Scorpions looked set for a big final charge. However, the Campbell/McCarthy third-wicket partnership of 58 runs would end as McCarthy (35) presented a catch off veteran leg-spinner Imran Khan to Rampaul at leg on.

Attempting to defend that total, the Scorpions almost got a perfect start in the first over, but Nkrumah Bonner dropped a difficult long-on boundary catch from Simmons off Scorpions off-spinner Jamie Merchant. When Red Force were 29-0 in the fifth over, Evin Lewis (14) was also dropped by Campbell at first slip, again by the unlucky Merchant. As the big-hitting opening duo raced to their 50-partnership in the eighth over, those missed catches were even more critical.

Leading up to the 25th over, Jamaica got three wickets, the last of which when Simmons (68) skied a catch off Allen to Bonner at the long-on boundary. Despite T&T further losing Jason Mohammed (41), who was bowled by Odean Smith, Pooran (54 not out) was joined by captain Pollard (36 not out) who quickly hit five massive sixes to celebrate the win in style and get ready for Saturday's grand final.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.