The Guyana Harpy Eagles (GHE) have opened their West Indies Regional Four-Day Championships with a commanding victory, defeating the Windward Islands Volcanoes by four wickets on Wednesday afternoon.
Guyana went into Day 4 (Wednesday) on 38-1, needing a further 194 runs for victory after routing the Volcanoes for 209 late on Tuesday afternoon.
Resuming Day 4 at the crease were Captain Tevin Imlach on 27 from 38 while his deputy, Matthew Nandu had 7 from 42 deliveries.
Unable to convert his start in the first innings, the Harpy Eagles Captain rose to the occasion in the second innings, bringing up his ninth First-Class half-century by lunch on the final day.
At that juncture, Imlach had moved on to 68 from 117 deliveries, steadying an already lucrative 102-run partnership. At the other end, Nandu had notched a patient 32 from 119 balls.
The duo continued to ramble on after the lunch break with Imlach getting up to 82 off 147 balls, decorated with 11 boundaries before being trapped by Ryan John’s bowling. Nandu went on to craft his fifth First-Class half-century, but could not carry on much longer, perishing for 58 off 182 deliveries.
The pair of Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Kemol Savory brought a brief resistance to the crease in a 32- run partnership. Having already contributed 24 off 30 to the Harpy Eagles’ total, Savory became complicit in the loss of his own wicket, as he attempted an ambitious second run and came up just short of the crease.
Chanderpaul departed not too long after for 17 from 78, leaving the Harpy Eagles at 206-5 just after tea.
However, the lower order was up to the task of getting the defending champions over the line. Keemo Paul’s run-a-ball 17 and Gudakesh Motie’s unbeaten 23 off 13 deliveries saw the Harpy Eagles to their target in 78.4 overs, with four wickets to spare.
Both John and Kenneth Dember claimed two scalps each for the Windward Volcanoes’ bowling.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force wrapped up an early convincing victory against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes by 271 runs. On the heels of Amir Jangoo’s double ton and Terrence Hinds’ century, the Red Force left the Hurricanes a tall order of 370 runs to win.
However, the Hurricanes crumbled under the pressure, with Justin Greaves being the only batsman to stand up to the Red Force’s bowling. Greaves hit an unbeaten 56 off 128 deliveries as the Hurricanes were routed for 98 in 52.3 overs.
Khary Pierre led the charge for the Red Force’s bowlers with 4-37 from 20 overs while Anderson Phillip and Bryan Charles both claimed two wickets each.
The second round of the ongoing West Indies Championships is set to bowl off on Sunday, April 19 at venues across the Caribbean.
The post West Indies Championships: GHE thump Windward Volcanoes by 4 wickets appeared first on Guyana Times.
