… Joseph 5-for, Warde 78* star

By Clifton Ross

AN amazing spell of fast bowling by Alzarri Joseph who snagged 5 wickets, helped complement a string of outstanding batting performances as Leeward Islands Hurricanes dismantled Guyana Harpy Eagles by an innings and 57 runs, wrapping up Round Two’s clash in just 3 days.
Port-of-Spain was unkind to Guyana who never managed to recover after losing their way on Day 1 when they were rattled out for 116 in their first innings.

The Hurricanes batters were the complete opposite as they then provided the ideal impetus needed for a commanding victory, with 4 of their batters hitting scores of 70-plus, eventually declaring on 438-7 in reply to the Eagles.

The Eagles then returned for their 2nd innings with a massive 200-plus-run deficit facing them. Instead, Joseph kept his foot on the necks of the Guyanese batters, as his burst yielded match-winning figures of 5-94.

After some resistance, Guyana were knocked over for a second-innings score of 256 all out in 50.1 overs, with wicketkeeper Anthony Bramble’s 58 off 70 (5×4, 2×6) and opener Chandrapaul Hemraj’s 50 off 48 being the only shining light for the Eagles.

Left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie was among the stars, picking up wickets while almost seeing out Day 3 with a well constructed, unbeaten innings of 49 off 52 (6×4, 2×6).

He shared a 10th-wicket stand of 60 which frustrated Hurricanes, with speedster Niall Smith (17) but the pair were unable to keep the wheels from falling off.

Similar to the first innings, the Hurricane pacers made quick inroads with the new ball, with Joseph removing an out-of-sorts Tagenarine Chanderpaul,l (4) who failed to reach double digits in this match.

Hemraj, however, was the complete opposite, shrugging off his first-innings woes to score a much-needed, ultra-aggressive fifty.

The West Indies left-hander stroked 11 fours and looked classy but had his timber rattled by a beauty from medium-pacer Jeremiah Louis (2-50).
Prior to his dismissal, Hemraj witnessed the demise of his partners, Shimron Hetmyer (5) out caught and skipper Leon Johnson, who was trapped lbw, both by Joseph who had a few key scalps during his opening spell.

After hitting three fours, Vishaul Singh was another partner who found himself undone by another sterling delivery from Louis for just 18 runs.
With the top-order back in the dugout, Bramble and Keemo Paul (28 off 29 balls), anchored things for a brief moment with an aggressive counter approach.

Paul spanked four crisp fours and smashed a six, striking at almost 100.00, but attempted too many big shots and eventually picked out Jahmar Hamilton, gifting his wicket to Archibald.

Bramble, like Hemraj earlier, began to lose partners when an incoming Clinton Pestano (22) and Veerasammy Permaul (3) were dismissed.
After taking Harpy Eagles’ score past the 200 mark, Bramble, who battled for his half-century, became the second catching-practice victim of Hamilton, who held on to an important chance which resulted in another wicket for Joseph.

When play resumed on the morning of Day 3, Hurricanes resumed with a lead of 250 with Ward finishing with his top-score of 78 not out (8×4, 1×6) and notching up his half-century after resuming on 48.

Warde joined openers Montcin Hodge (71) and Kieran Powell (74) along with middle-order batter Devon Thomas (72) as the Hurricanes primary run-getters in the 1st innings.

After sharing a partnership of 30 with Rakeem Cornwall (15), Warde shared another solid fifty-stand, this time a 7-wicket stand of 66 with Colin Archibald Jr, who showed his class with the bat, smashing four big sixes and two fours in his cameo of 38 from 19.

Warde was denied the possibility of getting to a century when Gudakesh Motie (3-119) and pacer Niall Smith (3-100), removed his partners and Hurricanes announced their declaration.