Hetmyer and Paul shine once again as Guyana chalk up fifth victory

ONCE again, and for the second successive match for Shimron Hetmyer and fourth in five for Kemo Paul, both batsmen struck half centuries for Guyana who came away with a (114) runs victory over the Windward Islands at the Albion Community Centre ground yesterday.

Scores in the match; Guyana 276 for 5 Windward Islands ().
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, openers Shimron Hetmyer (86) and Tagenarine Chanderpaul 43 added 129 for the first wicket off 32.2 overs, with Hetmyer hitting Sherman Lewis for three fours in the 7th over, on the way to posting his 50 from 49 balls with five fours at 76 without loss in the 16th over.
When Chanderpaul hit Deron Hypolite back over his head for his third four in the 25th over, the Guyanese who won their first four matches with ease, saw their 100 being posted off 24.4 overs, with Hetmyer on 62 and Chanderpaul 31.
A good running catch on the midwicket boundary by Sherman Lewis was all it took to separate the pair, when Chanderpaul looked to hoist Hypolite over that area in the 32nd over, after facing 98 balls and hitting four fours during his partnership with Hetmyer.
Guyana lost Hetmyer who was caught by Cato at mid-on off Lewis, having faced 114 balls and hitting six fours in his 86, followed by his skipper Brian Sattaur 16 (18balls, 2×4), before a swashbuckling 51 from Kemo Paul, his fourth half century of the tournament, pushed Guyana over the 200 runs mark.
He added 60 for the fifth wicket with Ashkay Homraj 28 (20balls, 2×4) from 36 balls, with Paul posting his 50 from 30 deliveries, inclusive of two sixes and the same number of fours, before he handed Roland Cato at long on his third catch of the innings, off Ryan John (2 for 56).
A game Ronaldo Ali-Mohammed joined Homraj who later pushed Sherman Lewis (2 for 72) into the waiting hands of Cato at long on at 241 for 5 in the 48th over, before Ali-Mohammed and Kemol Savory added a hasty 35 from 15 balls, with Ali-Mohammed hitting two sixes in his unbeaten 13 ball 30, while Savory struck one four in his unbeaten 7.
Asked to record the highest run chase in this year’s tournament, the Windward Islands were asked to contend with the pace of Paul and spin of Balchand Baldeo, Shiraz Ramcharran, Steven Sankar and Damion Waldron, Guyana’s bowling lineup that has been performing exceedingly well this year.
They were rocked early by the Paul/Baldeo combination who sent back Anson Latchman (06) and Tonis Simon (04), leaving the Windwards on 14 for 2 in the 6th over, before Kersakie Jno-Lewis struck Paul for a hattrick of fours in the 10th over, pushing the score to 45 for 2.
A mix-up between Jno-Lewis and Gordon saw the latter being run out by Ali-Mohammed, as he failed to beat the throw from mid-on after they added 52 for the third wicket from eight overs, while Kersakie Jno-Lewis struck Ramcharran back over his head for six, before he pushed one back to Waldron when on 42 (53balls 4×4, 1×6) at 90 for 4.
Aggressive running between the wickets from Cato 38 and John (34) pushed the score to 156, with John hitting Waldron for two fours in the 34th over as they added 66 for the fifth wicket after Pope retired hurt on 4 at 71 for 3.
A smart catch by Sattaur at short cover, accounted for Cato off Sankar while Baldeo removed both Lewis and Pope off successive deliveries to leave the opposition on 157 for 7, following which they were later bowled out for 162 from 41.3 overs, as Baldeo 3 for 35 and Ramcharran 2 for 26 did the bulk of the damage, while there was a wicket each for Paul, Waldron and Sankar.

(By Calvin Roberts)