Man-of-the-match Andre McCarthy’s run-a-ball century and Nikita Miller’s four-wicket haul combined to hand the Jamaica Scorpions 46-run victory (D/L) over the Guyana Jaguars at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua on Thursday.
It was the Scorpions’ second win of the CWI Super50 competition and the first for the Jaguars who are still the table leaders in Group B after four matches.
Chasing 215 off 34 overs after rain had delayed play for more than an hour, the Guyana Jaguars had their middle order ripped out by off-spinner Nikita Miller who finished with 4 for 22 to lead the Scorpions to victory.
Only Shimron Hetmeyer, who scored 40 from 43 balls, offered any real resistance as the Jaguars were bowled out for 168 off 30.2 overs. Russell took 2 for 24 off his six overs.
Lots will be dependent on Shimron Hetmyer if the Guyana Jaguars are to bounce back to their winning ways at Coolidge today (CWI Media photos)
Earlier, McCarthy hit five fours and six sixes as he and Fabian Allen who remained unbeaten on 47 shared in a 110-run fourth-wicket stand that laid the foundation for the Scorpions’ 264 for 9 of their allotment of 50 overs.
He was eventually yorked for 105 by Keemo Paul on the last ball of the 45th over. Paul ended with figures of 3 for 46 off eight overs.
The Scorpions also got useful contributions from Rovman Powell, who while batting at three, mounted a second-wicket stand of 57 after they lost Steven Taylor three balls into the first over for a duck with only three runs on the board.
Walton went on to make 33 before he was trapped lbw by Shefane Rutherford.
Andre Russell has a brief cameo of 15 before he was caught on the long off boundary by Paul off the bowling of Romario Shepherd who cleaned up the Scorpions tail to end with 3 for 67 off his 10 overs.
Jaguars vs Kent at Coolidge
Meanwhile, the Leon Johnson-led side will be looking to rebound from Thursday’s horrific loss when they oppose Kent Spitfires in an important top-of-the-table clash at the Coolidge Cricket ground in another day/night affair today from 14:00h.
The Jaguars’ concern at this stage of the Cup, is that their batters step up in a major way, especially against a well-polished side like the Joe Denly-led English County seasoned campaigners, Kent. The Englishmen have been on a roll in the Caribbean since their arrival, disposing of the United States of America in the previous round by 29 runs, the Hurricanes by 9-wickets and the Scorpions by four wickets while suffering their only loss to the Jaguars in their opening encounter by 35 runs. The Jaguars on 13 points will look to their main batsmen, Leon Johnson, Anthony Bramble, Chandrapaul Hemraj and their power-hitting all-round trio of Keemo Paul, Romario Shepherd and Sherfane Rutherford to set or chase any target.
West Indies Test player Shimron Hetmyer is Guyana’s leading run-scorer with 209 runs with a century under his belt and could be the x-factor in today’s encounter. Meanwhile, the 31 year-old Denly, who has played a number of ODI and T20 internationals for England, seems to be settling in with the Caribbean conditions.
Denly hit 96 versus USA to help carry Kent within a sniff of being then top team in Group B. With a quality batting order featuring Daniel Bell-Drummond, Alex Blake, Sean Dickson, Adam Rouse and other upcoming English international prospects looking ominous, Kent will fancy their chances.
Bowling-wise, Guyana will have fewer problems than the English, as their bowlers whether spin or seam; have been doing the job for their franchise. Paul, Rutherford and Shepherd have revived the Jags quota of power-hitting fast-bowlers while the veteran Veerasammy Permaul continues to bag wickets in every format.
With 13 points from 4 games, Guyana’s quest for the coveted “Double” heats up as Kent with 12 points could likely topple them should the Jaguars produce mixed results tonight.
