… Martina ends with 9-wicket haul

RESILIENT batting from Kemo Paul and wicketkeeper/batsman Kemol Savory, enabled hosts Guyana to salvage a draw in their West Indies Cricket Board Regional Under-19 first-round fixture against Leeward Islands at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, yesterday afternoon.
Scores in the match, Guyana 270 and 214, Leeward Islands 342.
Resuming on their overnight score of 300 for 8, with skipper Jeremiah Louis on 49 and Colin Archibald 1 with a lead of 30 runs, the visitors stretched same to 72, by adding 42 more runs before losing their final two wickets.
Louis duly got to his half-century from 72 balls and 75 minutes of batting in which he struck five fours and two sixes, before he was caught by Paul at deep midwicket off Balchand Baldeo, who finished with 2 for 50, while Steven Sankar ended with 2 for 83 to support Shiraz Ramcharran who took 3 for 57.
Asked to bat one hour before the lunch break, Guyana started positively with two of their three senior batsmen, in first class openers Shimron Hetmyer (14) and Tagenarine Chanderpaul (16), scoring 23 from the first two overs, before slipping to 61 for 4 after the break.
Paul, in partnership with Shiraz Ramcharran, took the home team past the deficit, with Paul, playing a spanking extra cover drive off the bowling of Louis, to push the score to 75 for 4, but lost Ramcharran (8) at 91 for 5.
Ashkay Homraj (8) came but did not last long, perishing to a catch at deep cover off Archibald, enabling Savory to join Paul, following which they capitalised on some loose bowling while adding 103 for the seventh wicket.
During that time, Paul got to his 50 from 75 balls during his 97 minutes stay at the wicket, with his ninth four that was punched audaciously through the cover region off Kenrick Scott, but not before he drove Archibald with authority, through the same area for back-to-back fours.
At tea, Guyana were 138 for 6, with Paul on 51 and Savory 7 and after the break, both batsmen grew in confidence, with Paul driving Martina for a hat-trick of boundaries, while Savory stroked Archibald for a pair of his own.
As Paul inched closer to his debut ton at this level, Guyana’s lead increased as the pair posted the 200 one hour after the tea break, when Paul drove Martina audaciously through extra cover for his 15th four.
However, when he was well set for his ton, he played at a delivery from Theron Bussue and was bowled for 90, having faced 123 balls, batting for 172 minutes in which he struck 15 fours during his 103-run partnership with Savory.
It was a demise that brought luck to the Leeward Islands, as they wasted little time in wrapping up the home team’s innings. Martina, who took 4 for 94 ended with match figures of 9 for 180 and wrapped up the innings by removing Savory, Damion Waldron (1) and Keon Morris (0).
Savory batted for 104 minutes in which he faced 86 balls and struck four fours and a six over long on off Bussue. Alzarri Joseph and Archibald ended with two wickets each for 30 and 32 runs respectively for Leewards.
The second round will bowl off tomorrow with Leewards taking on Jamaica at Demerara Cricket Club ground, Guyana opposing the Windward Islands at the Everest Cricket Club ground and Barbados facing Trinidad and Tobago at Guyana National Stadium, Providence. All three matches will commene at 10:00hrs.
SCORECARD

GUYANA first innings 270
LEEWARD ISLANDS 1st innings (300 for 8)
D. Weste c Morris b Baldeo 1
R. Powell c Morris b Ramcharran 130
S. Martina lbw b Sankar 6
K. Carthy b Paul 64
A. Hodge run-out (Paul/Savory) 13
M. Hingorani c Ramcharran b Sankar 1
J. Louis c Paul b Baldeo 72
A. Joseph c Hetmyer b Ramcharran 11
K. Scott run-out (Waldron) 1
Colin Archibald run-out 1
T. Bussue not out 18
Extras: (b-10, nb-6, lb-7) 23
Total: (all out, off 126.1 overs) 342
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-49, 3-146, 4-187, 5-201, 6-254, 7-274, 8-290, 9-306.
Bowling: Paul 19-2-75-1 (nb6) Baldeo 27.1-12-50-2 Waldron 10-3-19-0 Morris 6-2-32-0 Ramcharran 29-6-57-3 Sankar 31-8-83-2 Chanderpaul 4-1-8-0

GUYANA 2nd innings
S. Hetmyer c Bussue b Louis 14
T. Chanderpaul b Joseph 16
B. Sattaur c Joseph b Martina 18
B. Baldeo c Louis b Joseph 4
S. Ramcharran c Carthy b Archibald 8
K. Paul b Bussue 90
A. Homraj c Joseph b Archibald 8
K. Savory c Louis b Martina 36
D. Waldron b Martina 1
S. Sankar not out 0
K. Morris lbw b Martina 0
Extras: (nb-7, lb-4, b-7, w-3) 21
Total: (all out, off 59.3 overs) 214
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-51, 3-57, 4-61, 5-92, 6-108, 7-211, 8-211, 9-214.
Bowling: Joseph 12-6-30-2 (nb-1) Louis 12-2-50-1 (nb-5, w-1) Martina 18.3-6-49-4 Archibald 7-0-32-2 (nb-1, w-2) Bussue 7-0-27-1 Scott 3-0-15-0.
Points: Leewards 8.3, Guyana 8.1.

(By Calvin Roberts)