FOUR-TIME defending champions, the Guyana Jaguars returned to winning ways, beating Barbados Pride inside three days of their ninth-round Cricket West Indies (CWI) Regional Four-day encounter yesterday.

Man-of-the-match Raymon Reifer’s stellar bowling set up the comprehensive seven-wicket victory, as Jaguars continued with their dominant run at home. The 27-year-old Reifer finished with a match-haul of nine for 42.

Scores: Barbados Pride 76 and 238; Guyana Jaguars 201 and 118-3.
Jaguars, with six outright wins this season, have now opened up a significant lead at the top of the standings to remain firm favourites to win a fifth straight title with one game remaining, a day/night encounter against Trinidad and Tobago Red Force, starting on Thursday.

After earning 17.6 points from the game, the Jaguars sit on 134.4 and will definitely fancy their chances of the title, despite their two closest rivals, Leeward Islands Hurricanes and Pride, with two games to play.

Resuming yesterday’s penultimate day at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, in total command of the contest, Jaguars completed the crushing win just after lunch.
Set 114 to win, Jaguars completed the formalities in 29 overs with Chandrapaul Hemraj hitting his seventh first-class fifty – an attractive 51 off 63 balls with five fours and a six.

Leon Johnson and Christopher Barnwell remained unbeaten on 20 and 23 respectively.
The tourists, resuming at 228 for six, a second-innings lead of just 103 runs with four wickets remaining, surrendered meekly for 238, as the hosts were in no mood to slacken their grip on the match and wrapped up the innings inside 25 minutes of play.

The home team started with the pace-spin combination of Reifer and Veerasammy Permaul, and they triggered the final capitulation in which they took two wickets each.
Permaul in his first over of the day trapped overnight batsman Tevyn Walcott leg-before for 33 then removed Chaim Holder off a return catch to finish with figures of four for 62, to take his tally to 39 wickets, the second highest for the season.

The left-arm seamer Reifer, who ended with figures of four for 22, had Jomel Warrican taken at the wicket before he bowled Miguel Cummins four balls later.
The home team then lost Tagenarine Chanderpaul (8) and Vishaul Singh (8), to Shamar Springer before lunch, at 64-2.

After the interval, the 25-year-old Hemraj brought up his half-century before he was also removed by Springer, who finished with figures of 3for 29.

Johnson and Barnwell then shared an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 36 runs which eventually sealed the win for the defending champions.

SCOREBOARD
BARBADOS PRIDE 2nd innings
R. Boucher b Rutherford 14
S. Brooks b Permaul 44
S. Mosely lbw b Lewis 64
J. Carter c Chanderpaul b Permaul 47
A. Jones lbw b Reifer 15
S. Springer b Reifer 6
T. Walcott lbw b Permaul 33
J. Warrican c Bramble b Reifer 4
C. Holder c & b Permaul 0
M. Mindley not out 3
M. Cummins b Reifer 0
Extras: (b-3, lb-4) 7
Total: (all out; 75.5 overs) 238
Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-93, 3-163, 4-177, 5-192, 6-205, 7-234, 8-234, 9-238.
Bowling: Shepherd 10-1-41-0, Reifer 11.4-4-22-4, Lewis 20-3-63-1, Rutherford 9-2-34-1, Permaul 24-6-62-4, Barnwell 1-0-9-0.
GUYANA JAGUARS 2nd innings
T. CHanderpaul c Walcott b Springer 8
C. Hemraj c Cummins b Springer 51
V. Singh c Warrican b Springer 8
L. Johnson not out 20
C. Barnwell not out 23
Extras: (lb-4, nb-4) 8
Total: (for three wickets; 29 overs) 118
Fall of wickets: 1-35, 2-61, 3-82.
Bowling: Mindley 5-0-11-0, Cummins 4-1-24-0, Holder 4-0-13-0, Springer 10-3-29-3, Carter 6-0-37-0.