THE Guyana Harpy Eagles under the leadership of Tevin Imlach won its 13th regional first-class title since Rohan Kanhai won Guyana’s first four-day title in 1973.
It was Guyana’s seventh title in the nine seasons of franchise cricket, which was inaugurated in the 2014/2015 season and the first season without Leon Johnson, who had won the previous six.
Guyana had to win their last match which they did in three days and had to wait until the next day and hope that the Leewards and Windwards played to a draw.

In addition, the West Indies Academy had to produce the tournament’s biggest upset by beating Barbados.
In the end, everything played out in Guyana’s favour and they won the title and a hefty US$250, 000.
While the top order lacked positive intent (Guyana never managed maximum batting points) and the bowlers lacked the ‘killer instinct’ and struggled to polish off the tail-enders quickly, Guyana played ‘team cricket’ and looked like a family on and off the field as they won their last five games.

Guyana’s first game against T&T was washed out after the opening day, while they lost their second match against the Leeward Islands in St Kitts.
Credit must go to the captain who led from the front, Head Coach Ryan Hercules, Assistant Coach Garvin Nedd, Manager Albert Clements, the Analyst Reryson Baghoo and Physio Angelica Holder for a job well done.

Twenty-three-year-old Mikyle Louis was the ‘find’ of the tournament.
Playing in his first season, the former West Indies under-19 batter scored 682 from seven matches at an average of 48.71.
The Leewards’ opener made three centuries and four 50s and was one of 11 West Indians to score hundreds in each innings of a first-class game when he achieved this feat against Guyana on home soil in St Kitts.

This was first done in 1967 by Roy Fredericks against Barbados.
Louis’s feat marked the 12th time this was accomplished with Grenada-born Devon Smith doing it twice.
Louis has done enough to earn a place in the squad to tour England for the three-Test series which commences on July 10.
West Indies and Barbados Captain Kraigg Braithwaite, after a poor Test series in Australia, returned to regional cricket and scored 565 runs with two centuries and a 50 to finish second in the aggregate.

Kevin Sinclair played seven matches batted 10 times and scored 508 runs with a highest score of 165 not out. He averaged 63.50 with a century and two 50s.
Sinclair had 13 wickets with his off-spin. But it was with the bat that he was a revelation and could now be considered a batting all-rounder.
Amit Jangoo was the other batter to reach 500, which included a double century and two 50s.
Guyana Skipper Tevin Imlach made 485 runs at an average of 53.88 with two tons and three 50s, after missing the first two games which Guyana did not win in St Kitts, due to his ODI comments in Australia.

Kevlon Anderson scored 332 runs with one century, while Tagenarine Chanderpaul made 323 runs.
The Test batter had an Average of 29.36 with one century and one 50, and coming down to a lower level was disappointing with an ultra-defensive approach.
Kemol Savory who kept due to a finger injury sustained by Imlach, scored 289, which included a century and a 50, while Veerasammy Permaul made 265, including an unbeaten 90.

Raymond Perez made two 50s in 222 runs, while Gudakesh Motie made 148, including a top score of 56
Renaldo Ali Mohamed (228 from eight innings), and Matthew Nandu (128 from eight innings) were among Guyana’s batters who were disappointing.
Although there were 27 centuries scored, the batters looked uncomfortable against spin, with most of them failing to use their feet when balls were flighted, with the top order rarely showing positive intent.

The pitches were mainly low and slow and assisted the spinners, who were the top five wicket-takers.
There were 35 five-wicket hauls, while Jousha Bishop was the leading wicket-taker with 42 wickets.
Jomal Warrican had 35 wickets and West Indies Academy’s left-arm spinner Ashmead Nedd was the only Guyanese among the top five wicket-takers with 33 wickets.

Rakeem Cornwall (32) and Brian Charles (31), while the only pacer among the top six wicket-takers was Jerimiah Louis with 30 scalps.
Mickle Louis scored three tons while Imlach, Jason Mohammed and Brathwaite scored two each.

Chanderpaul, Savory and Sinclair were the other Guyanese to reach centuries
Guyana passed 400 runs four times; 436 v Barbados at Coolidge, 424 v Jamaica at Sabina Park, 415/7dec v the Academy at Coolidge
The 34-year-old Permaul, the oldest player in the Guyana squad, had two five-wicket hauls.
His 29 wickets were the most from a Harpy Eagles player, while moving his first-class tally to 636 from 144 matches.

Nial Smith returned from the third round after a hamstring injury caused him to miss the first two games in St Kitts. He had 20 wickets.
The 19-year-old Isaiah Thorne who took 19 wickets from six matches was the fastest bowler on show, with Smith not far behind in pace, while Motie also had 19 wickets.
Kevlon Anderson and Renaldo Ali Mohamed also had five-wicket hauls during the tournament
Off-spinner Avinash Mahabirsingh, who made his first-class debut on his 23rd birthday for the CCC grabbed 8-51 against Guyana to record the best bowling figures on debut since 1966, when the Shell Shield tournament was inaugurated.

Off-spinners Brian Charles and Roston Chase, along with 17-year-old Academy ‘leggie’ Zishan Motara all had seven-wicket hauls, which emphasised the lack of technique against spin bowling.
When Barbados made 542-9 against the Leewards, Braithwaite (189), Roston Chase (127) and Zachary McCaskie (101) all scored centuries in the same innings.
This was first done in 1967 at Bourda, when Guyana made their highest-ever first-class total of 641- 5 against Barbados. Basil Butcher, Joe Solomon and Roy Fredericks scored centuries