West Indies Championship – The 592 Dugout

Smith 2nd innings fifer fires Harpy Eagles to victory over Barbados Pride – WI Championship

By Michelangelo Jacobus

A fiery spell after lunch from Guyana Harpy Eagles pacer Nial Smith ensured that his side recorded a big win in their first round encounter against the defending champions Barbados Pride at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Saturday afternoon.

Smith’s 2nd innings figures of 5/31 (10 Overs) vindicated the Harpy Eagles’ skipper Leon Johnson’s decision to bat first as the previously dull pitch came alive on the fourth and final day of the match. Smith’s performance complemented the first innings effort of 19-year-old debutant Matthew Nandu who set the platform for the win with his excellent 126 on debut.

Earlier in the day, the Guyanese batting order collapsed in a heap as the Barbados pacers got the ball to move with poor shot selections not helping either. Seamers Akeem Jordan and Keon Harding were the destroyers-in-chief sharing six wickets between them with 3-apiece. Veteran Veerasammy Permaul and Smith had the highest partnership of the Guyanese 2nd innings and when the former was bowled by Chaim Holder, the Guyana Harpy Eagles declared at 126/9 leaving Barbados staring at a total of 278 for an unlikely victory.

Enter Smith; he began proceedings by getting first innings top scorer Sheyne Mosely to nick one to wicket-keeper Anthony Bramble for a duck in the second over while Shamar Joseph trapped Zachary McCaskie LBW in the very next over. However Jonathan Drakes and Shamarh Brooks looked to steady the ship and took their side from 9/2 to 30 before Brooks became Ronsford Beaton’s first victim.

The beginning of the end for the defending champions came courtesy of Veerasammy Permaul who snared the scalps of Nicolas Kirton and Shamar Springer in the 19th over to take his career tally to 504 wickets (the highest by a Guyanese bowler). Then Beaton added his second wicket of the innings when he sent back the Bajan skipper, a wounded Shane Dowrich for a two-ball duck to leave Barbados in serious trouble at 38/6.

Drakes (36) and Akeem Jordan (20) offered a brief resistance but the return of Smith sealed their end. He had Jordan holing out to Kevin Sinclair, then Drakes followed in similar fashion, caught by Permaul while Harding was also dismissed via a catch. Fittingly Smith sealed his five-wicket haul and a resounding win for the Guyana Harpy Eagles by bowling Jair McAllister to end the Barbados innings at 94 (36 overs).

SCORES: Guyana Harpy Eagles – 371 & 126/9 Declared, Barbados Pride – 220/9 & 94 All out

Guyana won by 183 runs.

Nandu’s debut ton puts Guyana in command on Day 2 – WI Championship

Guyana Harpy Eagles’ young debutant opener Matthew Nandu stroked a rock-solid century to mark his entry into regional four-day cricket and put his team in charge at stumps on day 2 of their first round encounter with defending champions Barbados Pride.

Resuming with their side on 205/5, Nandu and Kevin Sinclair added a further 20 runs to their partnership before the latter fell 7 runs short of a half-century edging Jair McAllister to stand-in skipper and wicket-keeper Shamarh Brooks.

Veteran Veerasammy Permaul joined Nandu and together they put on a 90-run 7th-wicket partnership to flatten the Barbados Pride bowling unit. Nandu’s century was brought up just before lunch with a savage cut off the bowling of Keon Harding.

Shortly after lunch, the partnership was broken as Permaul now on the offensive, holed out to McAllister to give Keon Harding what would be his only wicket of the innings. Now in his 8th partnership, Nandu and fellow debutant Shamar Joseph further frustrated the Bajans and added 39 before Nandu’s marathon knock came to an end with the total at 354. The youngster’s 126 spanned 331 deliveries, and included 14 boundaries.

His wicket reinvigorated the Barbados Pride bowlers and they wrapped up the remaining two wickets for just 17 runs but Nandu had already done the damage.

In reply, Barbados openers Zachary McCaskie and Sheyne Moseley put on a valuable 69 run opening stand. However McCaskie would be the first wicket to fall, holing out to Chandrapaul Hemraj off the bowling of spinner Kevin Sinclair.

Jonathan Drakes followed quickly, trapped LBW to Permaul for duck. Moseley would push on to register a dogged 65 before he made his way back to the pavilion giving Shamar Joseph his first wicket at this level, he was out caught behind.

At stumps, Barbados Pride were105/3, still 266 runs adrift of the Harpy Eagles first innings total.

Scores:

Guyana Harpy Eagles 1st Innings 371 (121.1 Overs), Matthew Nandu 126, Kevin Sinclair 43, Jair McAllister 3/43.

Barbados Pride 105/3 (39 Overs) Sheyne Moseley 69, McCaskie 26, Veerasammy Permaul 1/18, Shamar Joseph 1/20, Kevin Sinclair 1/26

Nandu, dropped catches frustrate Barbados on day 1 – West Indies Championship

Highly touted as one for the future, Guyana Harpy Eagles 19-year-old debutant Matthew Nandu played with patience, class and composure that belies his age to frustrate Barbados at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua & Barbuda with an unbeaten 71 on day one of their first round encounter.

At stumps, the Harpy Eagles were on 205/5 (76.4 Overs) after winning the toss and electing to bat. The morning session was cut short due to a Keon Harding delivery which tore a chunk of the turf out of the pitch which then had to be repaired by the ground staff. In that shortened session, openers Nandu and Chandrapaul Hemraj navigated their side to lunch (at 29) without loss. However, Barbados Pride would be left ruing a couple of dropped catches which enabled the Harpy Eagles to push on.

Shortly after lunch, Hemraj and Tevin Imlach would fall quickly to leave the Harpy Eagles wobbling at 35/2. First, Hemraj fell LBW to seamer Jair McAllister then Imlach had to return to the pavilion without troubling the scorers also via the LBW route off the bowling of Akeem Jordan.

From thereon out, it was the Nandu show as he strung together useful partnerships with fellow debutant Kemol Savoury, skipper Leon Johnson and Anthony Bramble, who all made starts but failed to bat on.

Savoury (25) and Nandu combined to take the Harpy Eagles to 80 before the aggressive wicket-keeper batsman nicked spinner Chaim Holder to Shane Dowrich to end his first innings at the regional level. In strode the under pressure Johnson who looked attractive in his innings of 26 and it was only fitting that he was at the non-striker’s end when Nandu brought up his maiden fifty on the stroke of tea to raucous applause from his teammates. However, after the break, Johnson too, fell to Holder with the score at 126/4.

The ever consistent Anthony Bramble did all the hard work at the beginning of his innings only to give his wicket away with a nothing shot as he fell for 20 caught by McAllister of the bowling of Jordan. At that point, the Guyana Harpy Eagles looked vulnerable with the total at 163/5 but all-rounder Kevin Sinclair and the increasingly confident Nandu took the fight to a waning Pride attack.

Their partnership worth 45, Sinclair (28 not out) and Nandu guided the Harpy Eagles to the close of play with the score at 205/5 (76.4 Overs), albeit not without incident, as an edge from Nandu seemed to carry to Akeem Jordan, but the umpires correctly ruled not out which replays vindicated as the ball appeared to bounce before entering Jordan’s grasp. Nandu will resume his innings on day two at 71 (219 deliveries and 9 boundaries).

(Day 1 Stumps: Guyana Harpy Eagles 205/5 – Matthew Nandu 71 not out, Kevin Sinclair 28)

Bowlers, Bravo hand Red Force 1st day honours – WI Championship

(Scores: Windward Islands Volcanoes 1st Innings 243, T&T Red Force 1st Innings 50/1*)

On the opening day of the opening fixture of the 2023 West Indies Championship, it was the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force who were in charge at stumps in Grenada.

After winning the toss and sending in the Windward Islands Volcanoes to bat, Red Force made early inroads. First Terrance Hinds accounted for Kimani Melius (4) in the third over while he had Kavem Hodge knicking behind for a 7-ball duck to leave the Volcanoes at 16/2. From there on the Volcanoes struggled to string together meaningful partnerships. Jerlani Robinson and Alick Anthanaze put on 28 for the third wicket before he holed out to Bryan Charles off the bowling of Tion Webster.

Anthanaze held his composure to steady the ship with Sunil Ambris (55), however, with the partnership (worth 54) in ascendancy Anthanaze was dismissed by off-spinner Charles for 41. The only other partnership of worth was 98 runs between Ryan John (who fell for 36) and Tevyn Walcott. The latter eventually ran out of partners as the Volcanoes were skittled out for 243, Walcott’s innings was a mixture of aggression and composure, his 87 not out came off of 101 deliveries and included 14 boundaries and one maximum.

Hinds snared 4/72 while Charles ended with figures 4/46.

In response, the Red Force only suffered one casualty, Khary Pierre who fell for a duck off the bowling of Darius Martin with the score at 6. By stumps, Jeremy Solanzo (18 not out) and Darren Bravo (32 not out) were looking solid and had reduced the 1st innings deficit to 193 with their team on 50/1.

Defending Champions Barbados to face Guyana in WI Championship opener

Cricket West Indies (CWI) today announced the match schedule and venues for the first two rounds of the West Indies Championship, the region’s first-class four-day red ball tournament, which will be played in Antigua and Grenada. The tournament will open with the Windward Islands Volcanoes hosting the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force at the Grenada National Stadium (GNS). This match will start on 31 January and will continue on 1 to 3 February.

In Antigua, defending champions the Barbados Pride will start their bid for a third straight title when they face Guyana Harpy Eagles in the feature match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium (SVRS) on 1 to 4 February. The third contest will see the Leeward Islands Hurricanes hosting the Jamaica Scorpions at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) from 1 to 4 February.

The second round will be played from 8 to 11 February when the Barbados Pride will meet the Jamaica Scorpions at CCG; Trinidad & Tobago Red Force travel to face the Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the SVRS, and the Guyana Harpy Eagles take on the Windward Islands Volcanoes at the GNS.

The third round of the West Indies Championship resumes on 15 March with the final round concluding on 1 April when the 2023 Champions will be crowned and presented with the Headley Weekes Trophy. The final three rounds will all be played in Trinidad and the venues will be announced at a later date.

Roland Holder, CWI’s Manager of Cricket Operations said: “We are happy to announce the match schedule and venues for the first two rounds of the West Indies Championship, our flagship regional tournament on the annual calendar. The six teams have been preparing diligently for the upcoming season and we expect to see keen competition this year as they battle for the Headley Weekes trophy. From the tournament, the best performers also have the reward of playing for Team Weekes and Team Headley in the new tournament announced by CWI scheduled for April and May.”

The new Headley Weekes Series will follow the West Indies Championship and will feature three matches and three teams. Team Headley and Team Weekes will select from the best performers in the 2023 West Indies Championship and players outside the starting West Indies Test XI. The new West Indies Academy will provide the third team in the new Series.

Team Headley and Team Weekes are named in honour of West Indies pioneers and legendary batting greats George Headley and Sir Everton Weekes, whose names are also honoured on the Trophy for the winners of the West Indies Championship. All three matches will be played from 18 April to 6 May at CCG in Antigua.

Every West Indies Championship match will be streamed live on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel. Fans can follow each and every game from their mobile devices, computers or connected TVs, including access to live ball-by-ball scoring on the Windiescricket.com live match centre.

2023 WEST INDIES CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH SCHEDULE

All matches start at 10am Eastern Caribbean time (9am Jamaica time)

GNS – Grenada National Stadium, Grenada

SVRS – Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua

CCG – Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua

ROUND 1:

31 January to 3 February – Grenada

Windward Islands Volcanoes v Trinidad & Tobago Red Force at GNS

1 to 4 February – Antigua

Barbados Pride v Guyana Harpy Eagles at SVRS

Leeward Islands Hurricanes v Jamaica Scorpions at CCG

ROUND 2:

8 to 11 February – Grenada and Antigua

Windward Islands Volcanoes v Guyana Harpy Eagles at GNS

Leeward Islands Hurricanes v Trinidad and Tobago Red Force at SVRS

Jamaica Scorpions v Barbados Pride at CCG

ROUND 3:

15 to 18 March in Trinidad – Venues to be confirmed

Trinidad and Tobago Red Force v Guyana Harpy Eagles

Jamaica Scorpions v Windward Islands Volcanoes

Leeward Islands Hurricanes v Barbados Pride

ROUND 4:

22 to 25 March in Trinidad – Venues to be confirmed

Trinidad & Tobago Red Force v Barbados Pride

Guyana Harpy Eagles vs Jamaica Scorpions

Leeward Islands Hurricanes v Windward Islands Volcanoes

ROUND 5:

29 March to 1 April in Trinidad – Venues to be confirmed

Trinidad & Tobago Red Force v Jamaica Scorpions

Guyana Harpy Eagles v Leeward Islands Hurricanes

Barbados Pride v Windward Islands Volcanoes

Headley Weekes Tri-Series

All matches to be played at CCG, Antigua

Match 1: 19 to 22 April: Team Headley v West Indies Academy

Match 2: 26 to 29 April: Team Weekes v West Indies Academy

Match 3: 3 to 6 May: Team Weekes v Team Headley

Nedd, Savoury, Joseph & Nandu earn Guyana Harpy Eagles call-up

The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has announced a 13-man squad for the first and second rounds of the West Indies Championship, 2023. The squad sees four newcomers in promising young opener Matthew Nandu, wicket-keeper/batsman Kemol Savoury, exciting young fast bowler Shamar Joseph and spinner Ashmead Nedd. On the flipside, there is a notable absentee in experienced middle-order batsman Vishaul Singh.

The Guyana Harpy Eagles will play Barbados Pride at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, from February 1 to February 4, and Windward Islands Volcanoes at the National Stadium in Grenada from February 8 to February 11.

The Guyana Harpy Eagles squad is: Leon Johnson (Captain), Veerasammy Permaul (Vice Captain), Chandrapaul Hemraj, Matthew Nandu, Kemol Savory, Tevin Imlach, Anthony Bramble, Kevin Sinclair, Nial Smith, Ronsford Beaton, Akshaya Persaud, Ashmead Nedd and Shamar Joseph.

The Manager is Albert Clements, Head Coach Ryan Hercules, Assistant Coach Garvin Nedd, Cricket Analyst Keshava Ramphal and Physiotherapist Angelica Holder.

Reserves: Mavindra Dindyal, Kevlon Anderson, Demetri Cameron, Richie Looknauth and Antony Adams.

Prior to the expected Guyana Harpy Eagles departure on Sunday, January 29, the squad and reserves will be engaged in training sessions from Monday (January 23) to Friday(January 27) at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.