Matthew Patrick top-scored with 45 for West Indies Under-19 in their tight win over Kent © WICB Media/Randy Brooks of Brooks LaTouche Photo
West Indies Under-19 held off Kent by 28 runs in a low-scoring contest at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium to record their first win of the Regional Super50. Sent in to bat, West Indies Under-19 were bowled out for 155 in 46.3 overs but in reply spun out Kent for 127 in just 34 overs behind 4 for 44 from 16-year-old left-arm spinner Joshua Bishop.
Kent were 76 for 2 before Bishop began to rip through the middle order, nabbing Darren Stevens for 18 in the 18th. Bishop then struck three times in the 22nd over while Yadram took the first of his three wickets to begin the 23rd, bowling Matt Coles for a duck, as Kent lost four for three runs to slide from 92 for 3 to 95 for 7.
Captain Sam Northeast had been at the non-striker’s end throughout the mayhem and did his best to weather the storm, making 37 before he was ninth man out to Keemo Paul. Bhaskar Yadram then removed tailender Ivan Thomas to end the match with figures of 3 for 6 in five overs, clinching an improbable win for the junior side.
A 59-run second-wicket partnership between Matthew Patrick and Yadram produced the bulk of the runs for West Indies Under-19. Patrick top-scored with 45 off 79 balls while Yadram’s 29 wound up being the third highest total in the match to go along with his three wickets later on in a solid all-round performance.
Trinidad & Tobago produced a tremendous fightback to win a thriller by 11 runs over Leeward Islands at Coolidge. Defending a total of 226, they appeared well out of the game after a 115-run opening stand by Leewards captain Kieran Powell and Montcin Hodge. But the wicket of Powell in the 27th over, stumped after being unable to reach a ball dragged wider outside off stump by left-arm spinner Khary Pierre, sparked a slide which saw Leewards lose all ten wickets for 100 runs resulting in their first loss of the tournament.
Pierre struck in the 31st and 35th overs in identical fashion to remove Nkrumah Bonner and Marlon Samuels, both batsmen skipping down the track to clear mid-on only to miscue attempted drives to Rayad Emrit at long-off. Emrit then struck a crucial blow to remove Hodge for 82, producing an edge behind to Denesh Ramdin on a failed attempt to guide a single to third man. Only two other batsmen made double-digits with 16 extras winding up as the next best contribution outside of the two openers.
Pierre wound up being named Man of the Match after finishing with 4 for 40 – he induced a leading edge from Jahmar Hamilton for his fourth – and concluded his day in the field with another fine moment at the end of the 46th, running out Gavin Tonge from long-on with a relay to Ramdin for the ninth wicket with 20 required to win. Shannon Gabriel defeated Jason Campbell‘s heave across the line in the 49th over to end the match.
Campbell’s efforts with the ball wound up being wasted after he had set up the dramatic second innings by taking 5 for 37 with his left-arm spin in the first innings. Nicholas Alexis made 50 at No. 3 for T & T but Imran Khan’s 45 not out at No. 6 ensured they batted through all 50 overs. Roger Primus fell in the 39th to make it 151 for 6 and Khan shepherded T & T’s long tail through the final 11 overs before they ended on 226 for 9, which wound up being just enough to secure their third win, putting them just a bonus point behind Leewards for the top spot in Group A.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo