West Indies Championships – Confidence boost ahead of final as Nandu, Van Lange lead batting charge

The Guyana Harpy Eagles (GHE) completed a crushing innings and 21-run victory over the West Indies Academy in their West Indies Championship encounter at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium earlier this week, but the story of the contest revolved firmly around two standout knocks; a maiden First-Class double century from Matthew Nandu and a scintillating 133 on debut from Jonathan Van Lange.
Nandu was the bedrock of the Harpy Eagles’ dominance, constructing a magnificent double hundred through method rather than flash. Reflecting on the marathon effort, he said his mindset was deliberately simple.

“It was just to take it one ball at a time and put away the bad balls as much as I could and try and rotate as much as I could as well,” Nandu explained. “The main objective was to just get past the first thing, score, and try and push through and dig in as deep as I could. It feels good to get a double hundred.”
Even amid celebration, the young batsman remained firmly grounded.
“Going into the finals, it’ll do my confidence well, but coming to the next game, I start back from zero, so I’ve got to go through the same process,” the 22-year-old explained.
While Nandu anchored the innings with authority, Van Lange brought flair and emotion to the occasion. Handing his first-class debut, he marked it in style with a fluent 133, embracing the opportunity he had long envisioned.
The 19-year-old shared, “Yeah, it was definitely something I was looking forward to. I was actually hoping to be in a team from the inception. But I guess God has his timing and everything. So yeah, I was pretty elated to have the call-up and make a debut, receiving a cap from Coach Ned. Growing up with him and just coming from his school basically, yeah, it’s definitely special to me.”
Preparation and belief guided his approach after assessing conditions.
“After seeing how the pitch played the first innings and how Dejan and Andrew started yesterday, last night was just basically thinking about just batting as long as I possibly could. Knowing my ability, I’m backing my ability to score runs once I spend time in the crease,” Van Lange went on to express.
The commanding victory sends the Harpy Eagles into the West Indies Championship final on an unbeaten streak against arch rivals Trinidad and Tobago Red Force. The championship contest will bowl off on Sunday, May 17, at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua and Barbuda.