Windwards sitting tall at regional 4-day table

The Windwards are sitting comfortably at the top of the standings in the West Indies Cricket Board four-day regional series with three wins from as many matches.{{more}}

Known for their slow starts, the Windwards are out of the blocks early, having taken maximum points from the Combined Colleges and Campuses, Trinidad and Tobago and last Friday, completed a seven-wicket win over Guyana here at the Arnos Vale Playing Field, to move to 36 points.

Recording their second successive win in three days at the same venue, the Windwards stuck to form, as they made some hearts flutter.

Needing 87 to win, the Windwards’ batsmen inexplicably induced some drama, but had enough in their mental tank to reach 90, but for the loss of six wickets.

Carrying them over the line was Andre Fletcher, who hit 30 not out. Devon Smith struck 30 at the top of the innings to set the platform, but others did not build on it.

Devendra Bishoo – 3 for 19 and Stephen Jacobs – 3 for 40, threatened a Guyana come from behind win.

Bishoo finished with match figures of 9 for 83, as he had 5 for 67, when the Windwards batted first.

The Guyanese were always chasing the match, after being dismissed for 151 on the first day. Assad Fudadin hit a top score of 55, as Shane Shillingford took 4 for 40, Liam Sebastian 3 for 21 and Dellorn Johnson 3 for 4.

The Windwards replied with 276, a lead of 125. Keddy Lesporis – 39, Devon Smith – 38; Liam Sebastian – 35, Lindon James – 32, Kenroy Peters- 30 and Dalton Polius – 28 , combined their batting skills.

Leon Johnson, with 2 for 18, supported Bishoo with his five-wicket haul.

Guyana fared better batting a second time, scoring 211. Zaheer Mohammed struck 61; Tagnerine Chanderpaul – 33, and Leon Johnson – 31.

Player of the match Shane Shillingford, with 7 for 63, orchestrated the Guyanese batting demise with his off spin, finishing with match figures of 11 for 103.

The Windwards next play Jamaica at the Grenada National Stadium in the four-day affair from March 6 to 9, and will see the return of Darren Sammy and Johnson Charles, as Fletcher and Lesporis have been called up for duties with the High Performance Centre in a tour match against Zimbabwe.

Manager of the Windwards’ outfit Lockhart Sebastian, wants his charges to continue in the winning vein.

Sebastian told SEARCHLIGHT that it is a good feeling to win three matches in the four-day tournament on the trot, along with two wins out of three in the Super50 format.

Sebastian, a former Dominica, Windwards and Combined Islands opener, revealed that they had set out to make maximum advantage of having their first four matches at home.

“…..Our goal from the start was to get into the semi-final then get through the final and win one or both of the competitions. We always felt that with four home games to start off with, if we could get forty points by when we leave Grenada, we will actually be qualified,” Sebastian reported.

“We need six more, but right now we are not thinking of qualifying; what we thinking of now is to get in the top two because the semi-finals will be hosted by the top two teams,” Sebastian advanced.

And, the Windwards manager noted that after not reaching the finals of the Caribbean T/20, they purposed to make amends in the two current competitions.(RT)