REGIONAL educators took time away from the classroom yesterday as the Caribbean Union of Teachers’ (CUT) Les Harris T20 cricket tournament commenced in Guyana with wins for Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago.
In the opening game hosts Guyana went down to Jamaica by 84 runs, after failing to chase down the earlier 185 total needed for victory at the Demerara Cricket Club ground.
Gavaskar Malachi made 63 and Keith Hibbert 49 in the total that was put on the board, as Jamaica opted to take first strike after winning the toss.

Kewin Paul 2 for 30 from three overs represented the pick of the bowlers for Guyana, while Dacram Samaroo and Amitab Bisnath each supported with one.
With the bat, Guyana failed miserably going all out at 101 after 16.5 overs.
A half-century from Darnell Douglas (51) was the top score for the team and they will be hoping to rebound in the next game.
Carl Brissett was the leading wicket-taker with 4 for 8 off two overs and he was supported with two each from Gurald Morgan and Malachi.

Game two saw Trinidad beat The Bahamas by 95 runs.
Batting first, the Trinidad and Tobago side were not shy with the bat. Christopher Sieusankar notched up 60, while Sester Hanooman clubbed 27 and Vinod Maharaj hit 26 in the side’s 169-4 total.
Les Melville picked up 1 for 19 off three overs while John Dolan had 1-26 from four, Himchand Rampersaud 1-14 from three.
In response, The Bahamas made only 74, all out, with 21 from Garth Davis, whiowas the leading scorer, while Devon Shields dominated with four wickets from one over and Sieusankar and Dehan Seeram bagged two apiece.

The Les Harris Cricket Competition is a biennial limited overs contest that CUT organises. The last two tournaments were held in St Vincent in 2011 and St. Lucia 2013. The Jamaica Teachers Association are the winners of the last three tournaments.
Matches continue today at the Guyana Defence Force ground, with Guyana playing Trinidad in game one and Jamaica facing The Bahamas in game two. The tournament concludes on Friday.