BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Shane Dowrich defied a destructive spell from fellow West Indies Test to discard Rahkeem Cornwall and collected his eighth first-class hundred to rescue defending champions Barbados Pride in the West Indies Championship on Wednesday in Trinidad.
A half-century from West Indies Test selectee Alick Athanaze and a solid all-round performance from Barbadian all-rounder Justin Greaves overshadowed a career-best spell from Jamaica Scorpions pacer Derval Green to give the Windward Islands Volcanoes’ early command of their third-round match in Guyana.
And Kevin Sinclair, Leon Johnson, and Anthony Bramble got half-centuries before Guyana Harpy Eagles capitulated to experienced leg-spin bowling all-rounder Imran Khan and were bowled out against hosts Trinidad & Tobago Red Force.
AT QUEEN’S PARK OVAL: Dowrich, the Pride captain, hit a purposeful, undefeated 116 that led his side to 294 for eight in their first innings at the close on the opening day of their match to put them on the brink of three crucial batting points.
The 31-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman shared a couple of half-century stands in the second half of the day after burly off-spinner Cornwall threatened to gut the Pride batting with a spell of six for 50 from 24 overs.
Cornwall removed left-hander Shayne Moseley for four, fellow opener Zachary McCaskie for 26, rookie Jonathan Drakes for 22, and Pride stumbled to 57 for three at lunch.
Pacer Sheeno Berridge tightened the screws when he got left-hander Jonathan Carter caught in the slips for a duck with the fifth ball after the interval before Dowrich and West Indies Under-19 graduate Kevin Wickham halted the slide with a fifth-wicket stand of 93.
Cornwall got Wickham for 41, West Indies Under-19 World Cup winner Shamar Springer for four, and Pride slumped to 164 for six at tea.
After the break, Dowrich got solid support from left-hander Dominic Drakes, the son of former Barbados and West Indies pacer turned Pride coach Vasbert Drakes, and former Hurricanes off-spinner Chaim Holder.
Drakes made 22 and put on 47 for the seventh wicket with Dowrich before he was caught close to the door, and Holder made a career-best 43 before he fell to left-arm pacer Colin Archibald in the final half-hour, and the Hurricanes ended the day with two bowling points.
AT THE GUYANA NATIONAL STADIUM: Athanaze wasted no time after returning from the West Indies Test Tour of South Africa and hit the top score of 81, and Greaves made 50, but the Volcano’s batting woes continued, and they were bowled out for 217 in their first innings, failing to get a batting point.
Green undermined the Volcano’s batting with five for 30 from 11 overs. At the same time, fellow pacer Nicholson Gordon and off-spinner Jamie Merchant supported with two wickets apiece, and the Scorpions claimed total bowling points.
Greaves, however, gave firm proof that he had now overcome the injuries that limited his bowling in the past few seasons when he bagged four for 34 from seven overs and sent the Scorpions sliding to 98 for seven at the close, putting the Volcanoes in place to grab total bowling points.
Green has so far made the top score of 33 not out, and Merchant made 24 before he departed in the day’s final over lbw to Greaves.
The Scorpions wobbled to 41 for six in the first hour after tea before Merchant came to the wicket and put on 57 with Green, but he, too, failed to bat out the day.
Volcanoes had sunk to 51 for four before Greaves came to the crease and shared 107 for the fifth wicket with Athanaze on either side of lunch.
After leg-spinner Abijhai Mansingh got Athanaze lbw, Volcanoes lost their last seven wickets for 43 in the span of 66 balls.
AT THE BRIAN LARA CRICKET ACADEMY: Sinclair led the way with 69, his captain, Johnson, made 62, and wicketkeeper-batsman Bramble cracked 56, and the Harpy Eagles were bowled out for 324 to claim three valuable batting points in their quest to stay ahead in the race for the George Headley & Everton Weekes Trophy.
Red Force were seven without loss from the only over of their reply before stumps were drawn with Jeremy Solozano not out on five and fellow left-handed opener Keegan Simmons not out on zero.
Harpy Eagles slumped to 33 for three early before the Sinclair, Johnson, and Bramble permutation got them out of the hole in the face of skillful bowling from Khan, who finished with four for 80 from 19.3 overs.
Johnson and Kemol Savory added 97 for the fourth wicket before Sinclair anchored a sixth-wicket stand of 79 with Bramble and a seventh-wicket stand of 88 with Keemo Paul that carried the Harpy Eagles past the 300 mark.
Savory got 44, and Paul made 46 – and both fell to Khan – before the Harpy Eagles lost their last four wickets for 17 in the span of 44 balls.
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