West Indies Championships: Sinclair ‘on show’ as GHE eyeing win on Day 4

A five-wicket haul from Guyanese Ashmead Nedd, playing for the West Indies Academy, has been overshadowed by a thumping century from Kevin Sinclair; as he became an unstoppable force with the bat, and then continued the momentum with the ball on Friday.
After half of the Guyana Harpy Eagles side had, on Thursday afternoon, fallen away by Nedd’s doing, Sinclair and Kemol Savory resumed the innings on Friday on 16 and 20 runs respectively.
Savory first reached the half-century mark, but fell to Joshua Bishop for 58 from 68 deliveries. Sinclair, however, pressed on alongside Ronaldo Alimohamed, who proved to be a good support between the wickets. Before Sinclair could reach the milestone, Alimohamed became Nedd’s fifth victim in the innings, after contributing 31 runs in 34 deliveries.

Not long after, Sinclair brought up his maiden First Class hundred in 118 deliveries, encompassing 15 boundaries. Thereafter, he teamed up with Veerasammy Permaul, and the duo took the Harpy Eagles’ lead past the 400-run mark.
Accumulating 415-7 in 112.1 overs, and with a lead of 428, the Harpy Eagles declared just before tea on Friday. Sinclair remained unbeaten on 165 from 182 deliveries, including 26 fours, doubling his previous highest first-class score of 86.
Permaul also remained not- out, pitching in with a handy 29 off 45 balls. As such, the West Indies Academy needed 429 runs for victory, with a day and a session left in the West Indies Championship third-round game.
However, Sinclair’s stunning all-round performance continued in their bowling innings, as he removed Rashawn Worrell for 11 runs to pick up the first of 7 West Indies Academy wickets that fell before close of play.

Sinclair’s strike opened the floodgates for the Harpy Eagles, whose Isai Thorne showed up to the party with three quickfire wickets. Thorne took two wickets to leave the Academy in hot water at 22-3 before tea.
Ackeeme August and Teddy Bishop fell to Thorne’s bowling for 5 runs and a duck respectively. Soon after tea, Thorne removed Joshua Bishop for 3 runs.
Mbeki Joseph was the next to fall, for 13 from 43 deliveries off Alimohamed’s bowling. Jordan Johnson and Carlon Bowen-Tuckett then put up a frustrating resistance to the Harpy Eagles’ bowlers.
The duo posted a 58-run partnership for the sixth wicket, but Sinclair was the man again to the rescue of the Harpy Eagles, trapping Johnson LBW to break the partnership. Johnson slammed the only Academy half century thus far, a 77-ball 54.
Before the day was called, Gudakesh Motie struck, removing Joshua James for 26 from 22, to reduce the Academy to 161-7 by close of play. The West Indies Academy will need 268 runs today to seal a victory, while al the defending champions would require are three wickets to bag their first win of the 2024 4-Day season.
The 4-Day action will resume at 10:00hrs today at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.