BARRINGTON YEARWOOD hammered his third Division 1 hundred, but Pedro Agard fell one short of his fifth ton as CGI Maple ravaged a depleted ICBL Empire bowling attack to amass 333 for six from62 overs on the first day of their fourth-round LIME Division 1 match yesterday.Empire, who were missing five of their leading players to the national team which is preparing to take part in this week’s preliminary round of the West Indies Cricket Board’s Caribbean Twenty20 competition, won the toss and took the gamble of inviting the hosts to bat first in overcast conditions.Agard and Yearwood ensured that the gamble failed with swashbuckling knocks on the easy-paced pitch.The former enjoyed a stroke of luck as early as the second delivery of the match when he edged a Marlon Blagrove delivery for Jamal Smith to snare the catch behind the wicket only to realise that umpire Ricardo Harrison had called no-ball.Blagrove returned later to bowl impressively, but there was no stopping the Maple jaggernaut as Renaldo Parris joined Agard in posting 158 for the opening partnership in the first session which was shortened by 17 minutes due to a light shower.With the coveted landmark seeming inevitable in the final over of the session, former Maple skipper Agard chased a wide delivery from the hard-working Blagrove for Smith to take an easy catch.On hat-trickHe batted just over two hours, faced 108 balls and struck 14 threes and four fours.Parris followed almost immediately on the resumption and when Robert McDonald, one of four “over 40s” recruited by the “Blues” held on to a diving effort to remove Collis Worrrell first ball, Blagrove was on hat-trick.Ormon Kellman averted the rare feat but the visitors still maintained keen interest as the fourth wicket fell with the total on 190, Blagrove grabbing all the wickets in a second spell.Then entered Yearwood to launch his vicious assault that culminated in an innings of 117 not out from 65 balls in 111 minutes after he had been missed off the bowling of the luckless Blagrove before he had opened his account.Empire, featuring the likes of former West Indies and Barbados batsman Carlisle Best aged 51, Michael Inniss, 45 club president Maurice Gaskin, 44, and McDonald, 43, eventually wilted under the onslaught as the Maple captain brought up his century off 57 deliveries with nine threes and 13 fours in 90 minutes and went on to add a further three threes and two fours by the close.He and Shane Ramsay have so far posted 96 unbeaten for the seventh wicket with the latter being rendered almost anonymous contributing 18 to the stand.The match resumes today at noon.
