West Indies4-Day Championships: Sinclair powers Harpy Eagles to fighting first innings’ total

Kevin Sinclair has soared to the top of the run-scorers’ charts in the 2024 West Indies Championships, after hitting another half century that proverbially dug the Guyana Harpy Eagles out of a hole on day one of their fifth-round contest against the Windward Islands Volcanoes.
At the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua and Barbuda, Sinclair led the charge for Guyana with a classy 74 from 102 deliveries, while Vice Captain Kevlon Anderson fell heartbreakingly short of a half century. Anderson’s 48 from 83 has however helped the Harpy Eagles to get past the 150-mark.
For the second consecutive game, the tail-enders did the heavy lifting in the Harpy Eagles’ first innings, with Gudakesh Motie playing a loose shot and perishing for a brisk 43-ball 46 runs in an innings that contained 3 fours and three sixes.

Prior to those solid showings, the Harpy Eagles did not have the best of starts, with the opening pair of Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Matthew Nandu returning to the dugout for 13 from 66 deliveries and 25 runs from 46 balls respectively, while Captain Tevin Imlach perished for 11 from 44 deliveries.
Veerasammy Permaul was good for another burst, contributing a quick 30 in 29 deliveries, while Ronaldo Alimohamed and Nial Smith added 22 and 20 runs respectively to the scoresheet. The harpy Eagles eventually got to 308 before being bowled out in 80.5 overs late on Wednesday afternoon.
Darel Cyrus was the man of the moment for the Volcanoes, taking a 5-fer (5-67-12.5), while his teammates Shamar Springer and Darius Martin each claimed 2 scalps, for 75 runs in 19 overs and 63 runs in 17 overs.
Guyana tried a mixed bag of bowlers in the final four overs before close of play, but found no success against the Windward opening pair of Kymani Melius and Jeremy Solozano, who remained unbeaten on 9 and 1 run respectively.
The Volcanoes currently have 12-0, trailing the Harpy Eagles by 296 runs with 10 wickets in hand.
The four-day game will continue today, Thursday March 21, from 10:00hrs.