A century by Guyanese batsmen Rampertab Ramnauth and a half-century by Shamar Yearwood were the star performances of the first day of the third round of matches in the West Indies Rising Stars U19 Championship.
In Arnos Vale, Jamaica, currently third in the rankings with 21 points and Guyana fourth with 19.8 points, entered this third round clash looking to move up the rankings for the first and second positions ahead of the final round.
After Jamaica won the toss and sent Guyana into bat, the Guyanese openers got off to a good start before Tonnani Ceasar (19) was dismissed on 49 in the 16th over.
However, Ramnauth’s 107 (170 balls, 11×4, 2×6) checked and secured the Guyanese innings. He shared a crucial 114-run third stand with Shamar Yearwood before being dismissed for 195 in the 54th over.
Rain interrupted play initially and the action stretched into the afternoon. After the tea interval, Jamaica claimed two quick wickets on the restart as Guyana slipped from 195-3 to 225-5 in the 76th over. Guyana eventually closed on 281-6 in 89 overs.
Left-hander Yearwood, whose unbeaten knock of 86 (194 balls, 7×4) quickly revived Guyana’s control of the innings by sharing a 51-run sixth partnership with Alvin Mohabhir (19).
The highlight of Yearwood’s unbeaten knock so far came in the 78th over when he smashed four boundaries off medium-pacer Justin Walters.
Left-arm spinner Alex Hinds with economical figures (25-7-53-3) was the pick of the Jamaican bowlers.
Meanwhile, at Park Hill, a fighting half-century from Windwards opener Stephan Pascal (52) and a patient 43 runs from middle-order batsman Kirk Murray could not prevent the Windward Islands from being demolished for 152 runs in 62 overs by Barbados. .
The Bajans, who are currently at the top of the competition table, ended the day with a score of 11-0. They did not let regular intervals of rain affect them as a complete team bowling performance in using bowling friendly conditions combined to dig out the Windward Islands batting.
Jayden Roberts 3-42 and Tariq Oneale 3-21 were the main destroyers while Johann Layne 2-38 and left-arm spinner Nathan Sealey 2-12 also contributed.
In Cumberland, Trinidad & Tobago entered this third round looking for a strong performance to move up the standings.
However, on the rain-interrupted day, it was the Leeward Islands second in a game attended by Leeward Islands Cricket Board (LICB) president and CWI director Enoch Lewis who have benefited early.
After winning the toss and sending Trinidad into bat, they restricted the young side to 122-5 after a tight 62 overs.
