Guyana Harpy Eagles resume hunt today

Feb 08, 2023 Sports

2023 West Indies Championship…

Kaieteur News – Today the second round of the 2023 West Indies Championship commences in Grenada and Antigua with three scheduled matches on the card.

The Guyana Harpy Eagles enter this round as the current leader after one round, to face the formidable Leeward Islands Volcanoes at the National Cricket Stadium in St. George’s, Grenada, in their hunt to reclaim the title.

In the other two matches, defending champion, Barbados Pride, go head-to-head with the Jamaica Scorpions at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) in Coolidge, Antigua, while the Leeward Islands Hurricanes take on the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium in North Sound, Antigua.

Guyana Harpy Eagles captain, Leon Johnson, makes a point following his team’s victory in the opening round. (Photo: CWI)

All matches are fixed to bowl off simultaneously at 10:00 hrs ECT.

The first round of the Four-Day formatted tournament commenced on January 31 between the Volcanoes and Red Force, which ended in a draw on February 3.

The other two matches in the opening round bowled off on February 1 and saw Hurricanes play to a draw with Scorpions while Harpy Eagles secured a victory over Pride.

At the conclusion of the round, Harpy Eagles captain, Leon Johnson stated he was very happy for the result even though they were in a bothersome spot on the penultimate day of the match.

“I think he played well in the first innings but very well played to the young Nandu (Matthew) who came in and showed a lot of maturity and became the fifth Guyanese batsman to score a hundred on debut, so very good for him. Also Permaul, the old stalwart, claiming 500 wickets; six wickets in the game and contributing in both innings with the bat. So I think we had a very good game.”

The captain elaborated further on Matthew Nandu’s performance, disclosing that it was him who was actually vocal about how the pitch was playing and also steady a lot of partnerships, hence, the statement of his maturity at the age of 19.

Nandu scored 126 in Guyana’s first innings that accumulated 371 runs and also became the first centurion of the season when he achieved the feat.

On what seemed to be a flat pitch, the Harpy Eagles’ pace attack accounted for eight wickets in the second innings, a job that was also commended by Johnson.

Ahead of the next round the skipper believes his squad should be happy in the moment of victory.

“It’s always good to start on a winning note. With a short tournament we realized from last season that you have to start well and get that momentum and try to carry it through. Even though we have a break it is important to start well because you find it’s hard to catch up in the back end; you don’t have the 10 games, you don’t have home games and things like that to catch up. So it’s very important to start well because you’re playing all the games on the road basically,” the captain added.

Harpy Eagles squad: Leon Johnson (Captain), Veerasammy Permaul (Vice-captain), Chandrapaul Hemraj, Matthew Nandu, Kemol Savory, Tevin Imlach, Anthony Bramble, Kevin Sinclair, Nial Smith, Ronsford Beaton, Akshaya Persaud, Ashmead Nedd and Shamar Joseph.

Windward Island Volcanoes Team: Alick Athanaze (Captain), Preston McSween (Vice Captain), Jerlani Robinson, Kimani Melius, Kavem Hodge, Sunil Ambris, Justin Greaves, Tevyn Walcott, Kenneth Dember, Daurius Martin, Ryan John, Teddy Bishop, Keron Cottoy.

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Jamaica Scorpions, Leeward Islands Volcanoes, Leon Johnson, Veerasammy Permaul, West Indies Championship

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