Three of the four Saint Lucian players on the Windward Islands Volcanoes squad were involved on November 19, as the subregional team defeated the Leeward Islands Hurricanes to open the CG United Super 50 Cup. The Windwards won by two wickets at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago.
Volcanoes’ captain Teddy Bishop won the toss and elected to field first. West Indies opening batsman Mikyle Louis and Kofi James raced to triple figures inside the first 13 overs. James took Saint Lucian pacer Keon Gaston for 19 in the third over. Darron Nedd finally struck for the Windwards in the 16th over, dislodging Louis for 59, caught by Shadrack Descarte.
Another sizeable partnership ensued, however, James connecting with Carlton Bowen-Tuckett to add a further 81 runs in just ten overs. James got to 103 before falling to Kenneth Dember, again caught by the man from Mon Repos, Descarte.
A slightly more sedate period ensued, though the scoreboard kept ticking. Dember had Karima Gore bowled for 15. Descarte got in on the act as well. The Saint Lucia Kings allrounder dismissed talented young batter Jewel Andrew for 31 and Rahkeem Cornwall for a duck, both with the score on 300.
Nedd got his third wicket, ending with 3-53 from eight overs. Descarte finished with a parsimonious 3-43 from eight, along with those two catches. Fellow Saint Lucian McKenny Clarke was 1-58 from 7.3 overs, and Keon Gaston 0-49 from four overs. The Leewards made 324 in 47.3 overs.
The Windwards chase got off to a terrible start, as Johann Jeremiah was sent back without scoring. Stephan Pascal and Teddy Bishop crafted a minor recovery, getting to 68 inside 11 overs. But three more wickets fell relatively quickly, including that of Descarte, before Darron Nedd and Dillon Douglas righted the ship.
The Grenadian and Vincentian knitted together a 108-run partnership, Nedd eventually getting to 94 off 56 balls and Douglas 61 off 46. Gaston chipped in with 17 from 23, and Clarke finished things off with two big sixes, as he scored 22 from 12 balls. The Windwards tallied 325-8 from 43.5 overs.
On November 21, the Windwards meet Guyana Harpy Eagles at the Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground in St Augustine.
