(In Barbados, compliments of: Giftland, P&P Insurance, Lifetime Realty and Kei-shar’s Gift Shoppe)
CONSISTENT medium fast bowling from man- of-the-match Carlos Braithwaite, who took 5-24 (match-haul of 9-61), propelled Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) to an emphatic eight-run victory over Guyana five minutes after tea yesterday in their sixth round West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional 4-Day match at the 3Ws Oval yesterday.
Scores CCC 251 and 155, Guyana 207 and 191
Resuming at their overnight score of 30-1 with Leon Johnson on 8 and Richard Ramdeen 13, in search of their victory target, the Guyanese made heavy weather of same in bright sunshine, as Braithwaite ripped through the middle and lower order, despite some resilient batting from skipper Assad Fudadin (44) and Vishal Singh and Derwin Christian who made 32 each.
Guyana, who have never beaten the CCC in their five meetings to date, progressed to 40 courtesy of an involuntary boundary to third man from Johnson who was leaving alone a short rising delivery from Kevin McClean, before Ramdeen was caught at extra cover by substitute fielder Gilford Moore off McClean, 13 minutes into the day’s play.
Ramdeen batted for 85 minutes, hitting two fours from the 73 balls he faced for his 16, before Guyana reached their 50 from 26.3 overs, with Johnson on 18 and Narsingh Deonarine, who replaced Ramdeen and opened his account with a four through midwicket off Ryan Austin, 6.
The 27-year-old Deonarine, who amassed over 1 000 runs at this level two years ago, did not hang around long enough to create any problems for the Combined University students, as he was brilliantly caught by Kyle Corbin at gully off a beautiful delivery from Austin who bowled a nagging line and length outside the left-handers off stump.
Johnson’s struggle in Guyana’s middle order continued yesterday, when he probed at a delivery that pitched outside the off stump from Carlos Braithwaite and offered Corbin catching practice at gully, which the fielder accepted gleefully to leave Guyana on 69-4, as Christian made his way to the middle.
Johnson made 23 off 72 balls with two fours while batting for 99 minutes, as Guyana lost two quick wickets for 29 runs within the first session, proof of the spineless resistance shown by the batsmen throughout the tournament – a fact echoed by both Fudadin and coach Mark Harper repeatedly.
Christian hit Austin over mid off for four to push Guyana to 82-4 after the second water break, while his skipper hit the same bowler to long on for a four, followed by a six over the same position two balls later. Guyana’s 100 was posted in the 50th over of their innings, thanks to Christian’s four off Austin.
At lunch, Guyana were 121-4 with Christian who struck Nkrumah Bonner’s final delivery before the break for six on 32 and Fudadin 27, the two adding 52 valuable runs for their team at that stage, while Guyana needed 79 more runs for their first victory of the season.
CCC got immediate success after lunch, removing Christian via lbw to Kavesh Kantasingh without any addition to his lunchtime score, bringing an end to his fifth-wicket partnership with Fudadin which realised 53 runs, with his contribution being 32 that was made off 77 balls in 85 minutes batting with two fours and one six.
Singh joined Fudadin and hit Kantasingh for four through backward square leg to open his account, followed by another off Ryan Austin, who was also struck for six over long on by Fudadin, as Guyana inched closer to victory, reaching 141 for 5 after 60 overs in their second innings.
Another Fudadin boundary, struck off Austin through cover point in the 66th over, realised Guyana’s 150, while Fudadin inched closer to his second half-century for the season, moving to 42, before he survived a confident appeal for a catch at the wicket off Brathwaite, much to the dismay of the CCC team and their band of supporters off the field.
Braithwaite responded by removing Fudadin who faced 120 balls, hitting three fours and two sixes for his 44 while batting for 161 minutes in his next over, trapping the left-handed Guyanese skipper lbw followed by the wicket of Zaheer Mohammed (0) in is next over, to leave the visitors on 163-7.
The 22-year-old Singh, who plays for Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) with Johnson, was joined by Veerasammy Permaul, whose six wickets in the second innings set up Guyana’s victory. He watched as Permaul drove Kantasingh to long on for four, before Singh succumbed at the stroke of tea for 32 that left Guyana on 190-8 with Permaul on 12.
A nervous-looking Brandon Bess (0) joined Permaul and was lbw to Brathwaite off the third ball and it was all over for Guyana, when Ronsford Beaton (0) was given out lbw to Brathwaite off the first delivery he faced, leaving the Barbadian-born fast bowler on a hat-trick, while at the same time handing CCC an emphatic eight-run victory.
Brathwaite, who received valuable support with the ball from Austin who took 3-75, took four of the Guyanese last five batsmen, ensuring his team maintain their unbeaten record at the venue, irrespective of their opponent, setting up an exciting final round clash against Barbados this weekend.

COMBINED CAMPUSES & COLLEGES 1st innings 251
Guyana 1st innings 207
Combined Campuses & Colleges 2nd innings 155
GUYANA 2nd innings (o/n 30 for one)
R. Ramdeen c (sub.) Moore b McClean    16
R. Chandrika c wkp. Smith b Austin    4
L. Johnson c Corbin b Brathwaite    23
N. Deonarine c Corbin b Austin    8
A. Fudadin lbw b Brathwaite    44
D. Christian lbw b Kantasingh    32
V. Singh c Bonner b Austin    32
Z. Mohamed c wkp. Smith b Brathwaite    0
V. Permaul not out    13
B. Bess lbw b Brathwaite    0
R. Beaton lbw b Brathwaite    0
Extras: (b-3, lb-5, w-3, nb-8)    19
Total: (all out, 84.4 overs)    191
Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-40, 3-58, 4-69, 5-122, 6-163, 7-163, 8-190, 9-191.
Bowling: McClean 15-6-29-1, Brathwaite 18.4-8-24-5, Austin 29-8-75-3, Kantasingh 18-8-46-1, Bonner 4-1-9-0.  
Points: CCC 12, Guyana 0