Austin and Ottley steer CCC to five- wicket victory over Guyana
(In Barbados Compliments of: Cellink, Wartsila Power Company, Lifetime Real Estate, Medicine Chest, Bryden and Fernandes and Carib Beer)

OFF- spinner Ryan Austin befuddled the Guyanese batting lineup with seven wickets yesterday, ending with match figures of 10-118, as the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) defeated Guyana by five wickets inside three days in their West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) President’s Cup match at the 3W’s Oval, Cave Hill Barbados yesterday.

Scores in the match: Guyana 271 and 162, CCC 239 and 195-5

Needing to score 195 for victory, following Austin’s feat with the ball which saw Guyana being bowled out for 162, CCC who got a rampaging start from their openers Omar Phillips (35) and Kyle Corbin (13), reached 195-5, thanks to Kjorn Ottley’s robust 66, against the bowling of Brandon Bess who took 3-37.

Brandon Bess who along with Esaun Crandon was struck for boundaries by both Phillips and Corbin, rebounded with the wicket of Corbin, who was caught on the deep backward square leg boundary by Esaun Crandon with the scoreboard reading 22.

At tea, CCC had reached 31-1 with Phillips on 11 and Nikolai Parris 5, after which Phillips struck Veerasammy Permaul through point for four, before he was adjudged lbw to Bess, but Phillips was joined by Kjorn Ottley and they took the fight to the visitors with boundaries on both sides of the wicket.

Their 50- run third wicket partnership was reached from 65 minutes of batting, decorated with nine fours and took 15 overs to reach, after which Ottley pulled a short ball from Devendra Bishoo through forward square for four to push CCC to 90-2.

Guyana got the wicket of Phillips who pushed forward to a delivery from Bishoo and was caught by Vishal Singh at forward short leg for 35 made off 85 balls and decorated with six fours, during his 135 minutes vigil at the wicket.

Ottley who was joined by his skipper Floyd Reifer (19), continued to fight for his team, with a four through midwicket off Barnwell which raised the 100 for CCC from a total of 139 minutes and 30 overs of batting and he followed it with two more fours off Bishoo’s next over, as they inched closer to victory.

Reifer got into the boundary scoring act, with a well timed straight drive off Barnwell which beat a diving Bess at long on, before he lost his middle stump to one that pitched and left him, much to the delight of the Guyanese on and off the field, with CCC on 119-4.

Two fours by Ottley off Barnwell and Permaul pushed the batsman to 43 and CCC to 131-4, 64 runs away from victory against their opponents whom they had defeated in the same tournament at the same venue last year.  

Ottley punched Royston Crandon through extra cover for four and Walton who hit Permaul back over his head for a maximum, before Ottley reached his half century from 89 balls and 131 minutes of batting, hitting eight fours in the process.

Skipper Sewnarine Chattergoon who was looking to prize out the CCC batsmen, handed the ball to Vishal Singh, but it only resulted in three fours for a confident looking Ottley who moved to 64, but most importantly, CCC moved closer to victory on 164-4.

Bess was brought back and he accounted for Ottley who was caught by Bishoo for a well played 66 which was decorated with 11 fours from 105 balls, as he added 65 for the fifth wicket with Walton, who struck Bess for two fours to push the score to 194-5, before victory was achieved with five wickets in hand.

Earlier, Guyana resumed the third day on 60-1 with Chattergoon and Barnwell unbeaten on 28 and 23 respectively, but after steering Kevin Mc Lean through the slips for four, Barnwell pulled a short delivery straight into the hands of Kavesh Kantasingh at midwicket in the third over of the morning.

Barnwell struck five fours in his 27 which took him 45 balls to compile and he was joined in the cool comforts of the pavilion by Chattergoon who pushed tentatively forward to Austin who bowled unchanged from the Northern End, and was caught by his opposite number Floyd Reifer at slip.

Chattergoon faced 92 balls and struck seven fours in his 39 from 136 minutes of batting, but Guyana who led by 32 runs on first innings, slipped from 78-3 to 80-5, when Royston Crandon, was caught and bowled by Austin for duck and Assad Fudadin (05) caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper Walton off Mc Lean.

Derwin Christian (17, 3×4) joined Vishal Singh and responded with two fours off Mc Lean while Singh refused to be left out of the boundary scoring act, with an audacious drive square of the wicket off Austin that raised Guyana’s 100 in the 21st over of the day.

The 26 year old Christian, pulled a short delivery from Khismar Catlin to long on for four, but after been forced to duck out of the way of a short delivery, he cut at one that was wide of the off stump and picked out substitute Romel Currency who at point, leaving Guyana on 104-6.

Singh in partnership with Esaun Crandon continued to soldier on despite seeing the wickets fall at the other end, with a pulled four off Catlin to long leg, while Esaun Crandon had earlier got one past Walton for four to fine leg, as they set about repairing the damage done by the home team bowling.

At lunch, Guyana who lost five wickets in the session against the pace/spin combination that was in operation for the University students for 62 runs, were 122-6, a lead of 154 runs with Singh on 19 and Esaun Crandon 5, with both batsmen lo
oking to solidify their team’s position.

After lunch, Singh punched Mc Lean with disdain through point for four, while Crandon displayed his ability to hit boundaries when he took two fours off successive deliveries from Kavesh Kantasingh, before Singh was caught by Mc Lean at mid off for a resilient 31 off Austin.

Permaul and Esaun Crandon followed after, with the former being trapped on the crease, while the latter offered Reifer catching practice at slip, both off Austin and even though Bess struck Austin for a four and six over long on, that was the last hurrah for Guyana as the bowler walked away with the last laugh when he had Bess taken down the leg side by Walton.

In an invited comment with Chronicle Sport, coach of the Guyana team Ravindranauth Seeram called on his batsmen to concentrate more, especially in the middle order, after they got starts but failed to carry on, while he commended his bowlers for their sterling contribution.

At the simple presentation ceremony that followed, Austin was declared the man of the match.