A stunning spell with the ball from Nial Smith ensured that the Guyana Harpy Eagles (GHE) would make headway early in the contest when Round 2 of the ongoing Regional Four-Day West Indies Championships bowled off on Sunday.
At the Antigua Recreational Ground in St John’s, the Harpy Eagles won the toss and opted to bowl first, quickly routing their opponents, the Windward Islands Volcanoes for 151.
Smith was the chief architect of the Volcanoes’ demise, with figures of 5-36 from 13 overs.
It was Keemo Paul who opened the floodgates, removing Ackeem Auguste for two runs in the second over of the innings. By the third over, Smith had his first strike, sending Johann Jeremiah back to the dugout for a solitary run. Smith had a double strike in the fifth over, claiming both Kavem Hodge and Alick Athanaze’s wickets to reduce the Volcanoes to 17-4.
Paul then claimed his second wicket of the day, of Shadrack Descarte for 1, leaving the Volcanoes languishing at 21-5.
However, the Volcanoes had a reprieve as a 68-run partnership between Sunil Ambris and Noelle Leo allowed them to accumulate a few runs and avoid an embarrassing situation.
Leo hit 36 from 43 balls while Ambris contributed 35 from 43 before having his stumps rattled by Shamar Joseph, who returned to the fold in the second round.
The Harpy Eagles bowlers also met some resistance from Ryan John, in his 37 off 51 deliveries. With Kenneth Dember’s 15 in the latter stages, the Volcanoes got up to 151 in 37.1 overs.
Both Paul and Joseph claimed two scalps each while Gudakesh Motie took the remaining wicket.
With the bat, a painfully slow innings from Tagenarine Chanderpaul kept the Harpy Eagles ticking while Matthew Nandu, uncharacteristically, became the aggressor with a quickfire half-century.
Nandu brought up his sixth First-Class half-century, featuring eight fours and one six. Nandu eventually departed for 54 off 65 deliveries while Kevlon Anderson also had a short but meaningful stay at the crease with 41 off 50 balls, punctuated by seven boundaries.
By the close of play, Chanderpaul was unbeaten with 29 from 129 deliveries while Captain Tevin Imlach had 4 from 3.
Dember claimed both wickets lost for the Volcanoes with figures of 2-34 from 13 overs.
The Harpy Eagles had got up to 130-2 in 41 overs when the first day’s play ended. They will resume on that score when Day Two begins at 10:00h today.
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