Five-wicket hauls from off-spinner Jamie Merchant and medium pacer Derval Green propelled the Jamaica Scorpions to their first win of the 2022 West Indies Championship, defeating the Windward Islands Volcanoes by an innings and 14 runs on Friday at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.
The Volcanoes resumed on 101-3 with captain Kavem Hodge (30) and Ackeem Auguste (0) at the crease needing to score 209 to overhaul their first innings deficit of 209 runs.
The pair added a further 26 before Auguste became Merchant’s first scalp of the day for 11.
First innings half-centurion Keron Cottoy joined his captain and the pair put on 36 before Merchant dismissed Cottoy for 21 to leave the Volcanoes struggling at 163-5.
The popular cricket phrase “one brings two” was in full effect as just two balls later, Merchant removed wicketkeeper/batsman Denis Smith for a duck to leave the Volcanoes 163-6.
In the midst of the carnage, Hodge brought up a well-played half century before being the seventh wicket to fall, dismissed by Green for 63 as the Volcanoes slumped to 173-7.
Sherman Lewis (6), Preston McSween (4) and Josh Thomas (0) were the final three wickets to fall as Merchant and Green mopped up the tail to secure the massive win for the Scorpions.
Merchant, who scored 58 when the Scorpions batted, followed up with 5-72 from 28 overs to cap a fine all-round performance while Green ended with 5-46 from 18.2 overs.
Final scores: Windward Islands Volcanoes 137 and 195, Jamaica Scorpions 346.
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“We are in a very good space mentally,” says West Indies Interim Head Coach Andre Coley ahead of third South Africa ODI
The West Indies will enter the third and final ODI against South Africa on Tuesday with an opportunity to complete a series win over the hosts for the first time.
Interim Head Coach of the West Indies Senior Men’s team Andre Coley says the group are in a good place mentally ahead of the decisive game.
“Every game brings new possibilities. We are in a very good space mentally and we are happy with our preparation,” he said in a press conference on Monday.
“We are just making sure we are ready for this game. We will have to see the conditions and work out the best approach. We have been taking it on a match-by-match basis so we are in a good place and have had good plans,” Coley added.
The tourists went 1-0 up in the series thanks to an excellent batting display, including an unbeaten century from Shai Hope in his first innings as ODI captain.
Coley, while being pleased with the team’s exploits with the bat, hopes other batsmen can go deep into the innings after getting starts.
The Windies amassed 335-8. While Hope made 128*, Brandon King (30), Kyle Mayers (36), Nicholas Pooran (39) and Rovman Powell (46) all got starts and failed to kick on.
“It was satisfying. Firstly, getting a total of 300 plus on the back of Shai’s hundred batting through the innings. We had significant partnerships,” he said.
“It would still have been good to see more batters go on from their starts but very encouraging signs, nonetheless,” Coley added.
On the bowling front, Coley did not make much of the fact that South Africa got off to a fast start, putting it down to the state of the game.
“Chasing a total like that, they wanted to make the powerplay count. We expected that. That is the nature of the game,” he said before acknowledging how well his team responded to the early onslaught.
“We were put under pressure quite early and I thought we responded well. Kyle (Mayers) got that key wicket of Quinton (De Kock) who was going well for them. As the innings progressed, we were able to respond and, in the end, we ended up with a comfortable win,” he added.
The game is scheduled for 3:00 AM Jamaica Time (4:00 AM ECT).
Harpy Eagles hold 11.2-point lead atop West Indies Championship table entering round four
The Guyana Harpy Eagles have an 11.2-point lead at the top of the 2022/23 West Indies Championship table heading into round four starting on Wednesday.
Guyana, who won five straight regional four-day titles from 2015-2019, have two wins and a draw from their three games to lead the table with 49 points.
The Windward Islands Volcanoes find themselves second on 37.8 points thanks to a win and two draws, a similar record to the Leeward Islands Hurricanes who are third with 34.2 points
Three points behind the Hurricanes are reigning back-to-back champions the Barbados Pride after a win and two losses.
The Trinidad & Tobago Red Force, with two draws and a loss, are fifth on 24.8 points while the Jamaica Scorpions are way back in sixth on 15.8 points after two losses and a draw.
Round four will see the Harpy Eagles taking on the Jamaica Scorpions at Providence, the Leeward Islands Hurricanes taking on the Windward Islands Volcanoes at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy and the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force facing the Barbados Pride at the Queen’s Park Oval.
Karunaratne wants to step down as Sri Lanka captain
Dimuth Karunaratne wants to step down as Sri Lanka captain following the Test series against Ireland next month.
The opening batter revealed after a hammering by an innings and 58 runs in the second Test against New Zealand that he has offered his resignation.
Karunaratne, who was appointed in 2019, hopes his reign will come to an end after the second and final match of the series versus Ireland in Galle.
He said: "I've talked with the selectors about stepping down as captain after the Ireland series. In the next WTC cycle, you've got to do two years.
"I think it's best if a new captain does that whole cycle than for me to do half and hand over. I've talked to the selectors about this, but I haven't got a response yet. My preference is to handover to a new leader after the next series."
Karunaratne made half-centuries in both innings of a heavy defeat to the Black Caps at Basin Reserve, which consigned the tourists to a 2-0 defeat.
The 34-year-old was not content with his knocks of 89 and 51 in Wellington.
"I played Tests after eight months. I only got to play one innings in a four-day match in between," Karunaratne said.
"!'m someone who gets a big one after getting a start, so I think I don't have that patience at the moment, and I need to go back to domestic cricket and develop that again.
"After eight months, although I made some runs here, I could have done more, I think. Twice, I think I could have turned half-centuries into hundreds, and I wasted them."
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