KINGSTOWN – Barbados’ batsmen, led by Mekhail Marshall and Antonio Morris, and Guyana’s bowlers, spurred by Kevin Sinclair and Joshua Jones, kept their sides in a neck-and-neck race for the Windies Under-19 One-day Championship today.
Marshall and Morris hit half-centuries to lead the Barbadians past Canada by eight wickets, and Sinclair and Jones shared six wickets to bowl the Guyanese to a 114-run victory against Leeward Islands.
At the same time, Joshua James and Justyn Gangoo bowled Trinidad & Tobago to a 114-run win over Windward Islands.
At the Arnos Vale Sports Complex: Marshall hit five fours and five sixes in the top score of 58 from 62 balls and Morris struck two fours and four sixes in an unbeaten 54 from 57 balls to drive tournament leaders Barbados to victory with 92 balls remaining.
Marshall shared 45 for the first wicket with prolific, fellow opener Shian Brathwaite and Windies Under-15 graduate Nico Reifer to give Barbados a solid foundation.
But it was an 86-run, unbroken third-wicket stand between Morris and Reifer, not out on 35, that carried the Barbadians over the threshold.
Earlier, Windies Under-19 left-arm spinner Joshua Bishop starred with the ball, grabbing 4-28 from his allotted 10 overs, but Canada put up their best batting performance of the tournament to reach 175 in 45.3 overs.
At Cumberland: Sinclair bagged 3-17 from 9.5 overs and Joshua Jones snared 3-30 from six overs, as Guyana withstood a half-century from Zawandi White to dismiss the Leewards for 101 in 30.5 overs.
White collected five fours and three sixes in 53 from 60 balls, but Sinclair and Jones undermined the Leewards’ batting.
Earlier, several batsmen again got starts without carrying on, as the Guyanese, chasing a fifth straight One-day title, posted 215 for eight – their biggest total of the tournament – from their allocation of 50 overs.
At Park Hill: James too 4-34 from eight overs and Gangoo 3-16 from six overs, as T&T inflicted the first defeat on the Windwards, when they bowled out the hosts for 105 in 27.3 overs.
No batsman reached 20 for the Windwards.
T&T owed their total of 219 all out in 50 overs to defiant batting from their lower order, led by Nathaniel McDavid with 44.
He put on 46 with Avinash Mahabirsingh, whose stand of 43 with Gangoo extended T&T’s innings which was undermined by Shermill Lewis and Daneal Dupigny, as they shared seven wickets.
The top-of-the-table clash between Barbados and Guyana at Sion Hill will be the feature match in the fifth round on Saturday, which also sees Leewards vs Jamaica at Arnos Vale and T&T vs Canada at Park Hill. (PR)
