West Indies Championships-Savory, Anderson nearing centuries

…as GHE batters seize control of contest with Barbados

A batting masterclass from the Guyana Harpy Eagles (GHE) highlighted Day 2 of their first-round West Indies Championships clash with the Barbados Pride at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD).
Guyana’s batting was so formidable on Day 2 that they lost only three wickets during the entire day and ended with Captain Kemol Savory and Kevlon Anderson both eyeing centuries.

The hosts began their pursuit of Barbados’ first innings score of 346 on Thursday morning, where the top order was able to get good starts, but, unfortunately, could not press on.
Tagenarine Chanderpaul hit 40 off 119 deliveries while fellow opener Matthew Nandu had 36 off 54 balls. Nandu was the first of the two to depart, caught and bowled by Chaim Holder while Chanderpaul was next, falling in similar fashion to Javed Leacock.
In at number three, Raymond Perez was a breath of fresh air, but soon had reason to beat up on himself after edging Jair McAllister’s bowling to the keeper. Perez fell four short of a half-century, having faced 98 balls and hitting seven boundaries.
Then, it was time for the experienced pair of Captain Savory and Anderson to take the reins of the Harpy Eagles batting. The duo combined for a 48-run partnership at tea, as they led their side to 184-3 in 57 overs, by that interval.
Similarly to Barbados batters on Wednesday afternoon, Savory and Anderson were able to put their feet on the gas after tea.

The boundaries slid smoothly off the bats of the Guyanese duo, who eventually ended the day with an unbeaten 179-run partnership.
Savory brought up his third First-Class half-century in 67 balls, while Anderson followed closely on his heels, reaching the milestone in 79 balls for his sixth half-century in the format.
The Guyanese batsmen pressed on and weathered the new ball that was being served up by the Barbadian pacers to see out the day with their wickets still intact.
When close of play was called, Savory was not out on 95 off 135 deliveries, having dispatched 14 fours and one six. His partner, Anderson remained unbeaten on 87 from 125 balls, hitting the same number of boundaries. As such, Guyana reached 315-3 at close of play, trailing Barbados by just 21 runs.
Although having to toil, Chaim Holder was the most successful of the Bajan bowlers claiming 1-68 from 23 overs while Leacock took 1-45 from 10 overs. McAllister also claimed a wicket, but was on the expensive side.
The Regional Four-Day action will continue at the same venue from 10:00h today.