West Indies 4-Day Championships: GHE dominate with bat and ball on Day 2
The Guyana Harpy Eagles were absolutely superb with bat and ball on Day 2 of their match against the Windward Islands Volcanoes. They played themselves into a commanding position heading into the penultimate day of the West Indies 4-Day Championships’ fifth-round clash, in that
Isai Thorne and Ronaldo Alimohamed with the ball, and Captain Tevin Imlach and Tagenarine Chanderpaul with the bat, helped the GHE to register a 363-run lead at the end of Day 2, after routing their opponents for a meagre 113 runs in 31.5 overs.
Isai Thorne picked up a 4-wicket haul to flatten the Volcanoes
After the Windwards’ pair of Kymani Melius and Jeremy Solozano had resisted the Harpy Eagles’ efforts late on Wednesday afternoon, the Guyanese pacers went to work on Thursday morning, and took 8 wickets for less than 50 runs. Thorne was outstanding in claiming 4-38 from 11 overs, while Alimohamed picked up 3-30 from 7 overs.
At that point, Guyana had their opponents on 49-8, and Melius, with 14 runs from 34 deliveries, had the highest score, while the next best score was 10 runs from 7 balls, scored by Sunil Ambris. Then a frustrating partnership between Tevyn Walcott and Darel Cyrus got the challengers past the 100-run mark.
Captain Tevin Imlach ended Day 2 unbeaten on 88*
A change of tactics, from strictly pace to an injection of spin, brought in the expertise of Gudakesh Motie, who made a breakthrough within 2 overs of his introduction. Motie cleaned up Cyrus for 23 runs in 44 balls, and claimed the 10th wicket for Guyana — his second wicket — with the very next ball, in which he trapped Daurius Martin lbw. Motie eventually ended with 2-12 from 3.5 overs, while Nial Smith claimed the other wicket.
Opting to bat again instead of enforcing a follow-on, Guyana lost the wicket of Matthew Nandu early, who perished by the lbw route for a duck. However, the pair of Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Captain Tevin Imlach continued unfazed, and finished the day each unbeaten and well within arms’ reach of the 100-run mark.
Having a point to prove, Chanderpaul hit 78 in 160 deliveries, including 8 fours and 2 sixes, while Imlach raced past his partner for a 180-ball 88 runs, which included 8 boundaries.
With 9 wickets in hand, a 363-run lead, and two days’ play ahead, the Harpy Eagles would likely capitalize on their strong position to set the Volcanoes a mammoth total. The 4- Day action at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua and Barbuda would resume today from 10:00hrs.
