–Johnson, Bramble hit half-centuries, Cornwall ends with 10 wickets

By Clifton Ross

THE run fest at Providence ended with a calm draw as both the Guyana Jaguars and Leeward Hurricanes put each other to the test, as round 7 concluded yesterday.
The Champs posted 261 in the first innings thanks to Vishaul Singh grafting 90; as the Hurricanes pair of Rakeem Cornwall and Jerimiah Louis bagged 4 wickets apiece.
Hurricanes, in a brave effort, racked up 378-9 in their first innings, gaining a lead of over 100, thanks to knocks from Montcin Hodge (98), Amir Jangoo (90) and Jahmar Hamilton (67).

Jaguars, batting a second time, ended on 228 for 8 with skipper Leon Johnson chalking up a good-looking 63 with 10 fours; wicket-keeper Anthony Bramble muscled 8 fours in his 69.
Cornwall returned to bag 3 for 99 in the second innings, ending with 10 wickets in the match while Kacey Carty supported with 2-28.

Cornwall brought out the tricks early in the morning session, after the Jags came out for their second innings which required them to first wipe the 117 run lead then make fresh runs for the Hurricanes to chase with a day left.

The burly off-spinner cleaned up the top three batsmen, including openers Tagenarine Chanderpaul (4) and Tevin Imlach, who failed for the second time in the match with another non-negative integer score (0), thereby bagging himself an unforgettable pair.
After narrowly missing a ton, left-hander Vishaul Singh (17), managed a solitary four prior to him, too, being pinned leg-before- wicket (LBW) by Cornwall.
Reeling at 22-3, seasoned heads, Johnson and Chris Barnwell (40) commenced the repair work as they took the Jags to 72-3 when lunch arrived.
Kian Pemberton (1-32) then got into the action by removing a settled Barnwell who was out caught after hitting three fours.

Looking to play his shots, Johnson was given a life when he was dropped by a diving glove-man Hamilton as Guyana chipped away at the deficit.
The session before tea was a solid one for Guyana as Bramble hit six fours to reach his fifty along with his captain who also reached the halfway mark, as the tail was mopped up in a hurry.

Things ended in a subtle manner as the Hurricanes needed more than a 100 runs to win in less than a session remaining.
Hodge was given out LBW by pacer Niall Smith (1-12) for 10, but Kieran Powell (12*) and Amir Jangoo (5*) saw their team to stumps as the game ended in a draw, lifting the team spirit of the last-placed Hurricanes team.

Earlier, when play resumed, Cornwall and Louis, the overnight pair, looked to stretch the 94-run lead.

The left-arm swinger, Reifer, then removed Louis (11) while Permaul trapped Pemberton lbw for a duck, leaving Cornwall unbeaten on 19 with a four and a six to his credit.

Round 8 continues next week at Providence where the Jags will battle the Barbados Pride.