– Harpy Eagles fight back after batting collapse
THE Guyana Harpy Eagles retained marginal control of their third round regional four-day match against the West Indies Academy after a batting collapse cost them on Day One at Coolidge Cricket Ground.

The opposition turned in a massive effort to dismiss reigning champions Harpy Eagles for a disappointing 175 but then lost four wickets to finish on 96 for four at the close, still 79 runs adrift.

Choosing to bat first, Harpy Eagles got a top score of 30 from Ronaldo Alimohamed but Matthew Nandu (28), Tevin Imlach (24) and Kevin Sinclair (24) only got starts but failed to carry on.
There was no sign of the collapse to come when Nandu posted 43 for the first wicket with Test left-hander Tagenarine Chanderpaul (14).

However, once Chanderpaul edged a forward defensive prod at left-arm spinner Ashmead Nedd to first slip, Harpy Eagles slipped into decline with fast bowler Joshua James grabbing four for 43 to further hurt the innings.

Off-spinner Sinclair (4-32) then hauled Harpy Eagles back into the game with a brilliant four-wicket haul, slicing through the Academy top order to reduce them to 42 for four, when he got left-hander Jordan Johnson to hole out to extra cover for two.
But opener Rashawn Worrell (34 not out) kept his cool and found an accomplice in Joshua Bishop (33 not out), the pair adding 58 in an unbroken fifth wicket stand to deny Harpy Eagles further success.

Worrell has faced 75 balls and struck three fours and two sixes while Bishop, better known for his left-arm spin, has counted five fours in a positive 42-ball knock.
Elsewhere, Test batsman Kieran Powell lashed an unbeaten half-century as Leeward Islands Hurricanes produced a clinical performance to dominate Trinidad and Tobago Red Force.

Replying to Red Force’s paltry first innings total of 137, the home side coasted to 105 for one at the close at Warner Park in Basseterre, with the left-handed Powell stroking 54.
He struck eight fours in a fluent 76-ball knock, posting 85 for the first wicket with Mikyle Louis who made 32 off 64 balls with half-dozen fours, to follow up his twin centuries in the second round.

The right-handed Louis appeared set for another fifty when he played at a wayward leg-side delivery from off-spinner Bryan Charles and brushed a catch behind to Test wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva.
Sent in earlier, Red Force were undermined by the fast bowling duo of Colin Archibald (3-28) and Jeremiah Louis (3-38) who ripped through the innings with three-wicket hauls.

Jyd Goolie top-scored with 30 while Da Silva (24) and Terrance Hinds (22) got starts, but Red Force never really recovered after starting poorly.

In fact, they were wobbling at 51 for five after Louis and off-spinning captain Rahkeem Cornwall (2-5) grabbed a brace of wickets each.
Da Silva and Hinds then propped up the innings in a sixth wicket stand worth 44 before the rot set in again and the final five wickets crashed for 42 runs.