Off-spinner Kevin Sinclair and pacer Ronsford Beaton combined to take seven wickets and bowled leaders Guyana Harpy Eagles to a commanding 228-run win against Jamaica Scorpions in the West Indies Championship on Saturday.
Sinclair was the most successful bowler with four for 37 from 18.2 overs, and Beaton supported with three for 85 from 17 overs, and Scorpions were bowled out for 229 in their second innings before lunch on the final day of the fourth round match at the Guyana National Stadium.
Opener Tevin Gilzene hit the top score of 85 for the Scorpions, and their captain Jermaine Blackwood, the incumbent West Indies Test vice-captain, made 80, and they were the only two batsmen to reach 20 in the innings.
Scorpions started the day on 176 for one after they appeared to be putting up a resistance to the home team’s attack on the previous day, but they endured an inexplicable batting collapse, losing their last nine wickets for 27 in the span of 130 balls.
Sinclair formalized the third win of the season for the Harpy Eagles when he got out-of-favour Test batsman Nkrumah Bonner caught at slip for five, playing defensively forward, about 20 minutes before lunch.
The Harpy Eagles reaped 19.2 points from the match and moved to 68.2 points, virtually wrapping up their sixth title in the Professional Cricket League era of the Championship, while Scorpions claimed 5.8 and remained rooted to the bottom of the standings on 21.2.
Next round, the Harpy Eagles host Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the same venue, and the Scorpions face hosts Trinidad & Tobago Red Force at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
After Gilzene and Blackwood defied the Harpy Eagles attack to add 172 for the second wicket, Sinclair made the breakthrough for the hosts in the second over, and it opened the floodgates.
Kevin Sinclair trapped Gilzene lbw after the opener added four to his overnight score before pacer Niall Smith got left-hander Paul Palmer caught behind for a two-ball duck in the next over, and Scorpions stumbled to 183 for three.
For almost 45 minutes, Blackwood defied the Harpy Eagles’ attack with Abhijai Mansingh in a stand of 24 that carried the Scorpions past 200 before he was caught at forward short leg off Sinclair, turning a delivery straight into the clutches of Kemol Savory.
After he departed, there was token resistance from the rest of the batting, and the Scorpions slid to their third loss of the season, and second in succession at this venue.
CMC/
