Bangalore Provident stay rooted to top spot

Bangalore Provident (Rural) consolidated their position at the top of the league with a confident win against Belagavi Panthers. The fatigue from playing two back-to-back matches in less than 24 hours showed as Belagavi managed only 116 for 6 batting first. Captain J Arunkumar failed to repeat the fireworks from the previous day, while left-arm spinner Sarfaraz Ashraf accounted for the dangerous Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa. It was Shyam Ponappa’s quick 34 that lent some respectability to the score while the others continued to flounder.Belagavi sensed an opportunity during the chase when they sent back the Bangalore Provident openers with the score on 20. But a third-wicket partnership of 57 between Amit Verma and captain Balachandra Akhil strengthened the innings. Akhil played the aggressor with a 23-ball 34, with five fours and a six, while Verma gave solid support with a near-run-a-ball 31. Even as both departed, the Belagavi bowlers did not do enough to seize the initiative and Bangalore Provident won with eight balls to spare.Shamanoor Davangere Diamonds eked out a seven-run win in a rain-affected contest against Malnad Gladiators via the VJD method. The two points helped them switch places with Malnad, who sank to the bottom of the table. Opting to bat, Shamanoor were lifted by Mayank Agarwal’s 30 off 27 balls. However, just 7.1 overs were bowled before the rain came down.Set a revised target of 44 from five overs, Malnad found the going tough. None of the batsmen managed double figures as Shamanoor held the edge throughout the chase. Seventeen off the final over proved to be too tall an ask and Malnad tasted defeat for the fifth time.

Will Smith basks in proudest moment

Will Smith: ‘It’s one of the proudest moments of my cricketing life and does surpass last year’•PA Photos

Durham will celebrate their back-to-back Championship titles with a trip to Dublin after the season finishes, but first they want to complete their dominant campaign with two more victories and put further daylight between them and the chasing pack. Will Smith, the captain, is taking more pleasure from this year’s triumph than Durham’s maiden four-day title last year having assumed the captaincy from Dale Benkenstein.The runs haven’t flowed for Smith in the same manner (522 runs at 27.47 so far in 2009 compared to 925 at 51.38 in 2008) but the demands of leading a title defence have left him proud of his achievement. Division One has been a one-horse race since Durham hit their straps after three early draws and they wrapped up the title with a thumping innings-and-52-run victory against Nottinghamshire.”On a personal level, I had a decent part to play as I scored a few runs last year but this year, while I haven’t scored the runs, I’ve put far more energy and emotion into it,” he told Cricinfo’s Switch Hit Cricket Show. “It means a hell of a lot more this year to captain the side to what, on the face of it, is a very convincing victory. It makes me immensely proud and if we win the next two matches it will be a very dominant table at the end of the season. It’s one of the proudest moments of my cricketing life and does surpass last year.”However, the hectic nature of the county calendar means they played a Pro40 match the next day – although most of the first team continued their celebrations on the balcony as a young side took the field – and on Monday were on a long coach journey to play Hampshire at The Rose Bowl. For Smith, one of the players who had to battle a heavy night to play on Sunday, it means the enormity of the achievement hasn’t sunk in.”I don’t think it has yet. We had the Pro40 game that didn’t really allow is to accept it and the evening we won it was mostly a drunken haze more than anything,” he said. “It will do in the next week or so. We have two games to play, and we are concentrating on those, but when they are done and dusted there will be a few more celebrations and a few more events to honour the occasion and then it will really hit home.”Even when Durham were occasionally put under pressure they managed to turn the tables. Against Worcestershire they found themselves 59 for 6 in the first innings, but won the came by five wickets, and conceded a 135-run lead against Yorkshire yet finished with a dominant draw.”It’s been a funny season in many ways,” Smith said. “We’ve had to dig in at stages so there have been sessions where we’ve been up against it. But someone will recognise that moment and drag us around, that’s really been the story of the season. There have been times when it’s been tough and we’ve had to fight tooth and nail.One of those to play a vital role at turning innings around has been Ian Blackwell and Smith was full of praise for the all-round skills he has brought to the team. “He contributed a lot of tough runs in difficult situations at the start of the season, and in combination with Phil Mustard and Liam Plunkett put on crucial runs. And later in the season he has come into his own with the ball.”When he was at Taunton he probably wasn’t renowned as an attacking spinner because it was a small ground with a flat pitch. With all due respect to every spinner we’ve had at Durham but he has really raised the bar. He’s a very clever bowler, with variations in pace, and that’s allowed him to take nearly 40 wickets which is a great record.”And there is Steve Harmison, who is yet to confirm his international future after not earning a central contract. He has set his sights of Simon Brown’s Durham wicket-taking record of 518 scalps and is currently one short of reaching 400. “He’s been fantastic this season. He’s an incredible guy and an incredible bowler,” Smith said. “Sometimes he’s misunderstood and it seems to me that when he plays for England or Durham all he does is put his heart and soul into it all.”That’s been obvious this season when he’s bowled for us, sometimes bits have been falling off and he’s still been charging in. The emotion he summons up when playing for Durham is incredible and as long as his body and mind are willing he’ll be one of the first names I’d love to have in the team.”Smith insists thoughts of making it a hat-trick of titles will wait while they celebrate this success, but if Harmison is around for a full season it’s going to be very hard to stop Durham.

Poor shot selection cost us – Intikhab

Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam has blamed his batsmen for the Test and ODI series defeats in Sri Lanka. Pakistan lost the Test series 2-0 and were 3-0 down in the five-match ODI series before snatching consolation wins in the last two games and the one-off Twenty20 international.”We dominated the Test series against Sri Lanka but just two bad sessions changed the whole scenario of the tour,’ Intikhab said on arrival back in Pakistan. “Poor shot selection brought about our downfall.”Pakistan were well-placed in the first two Tests but lost both after dramatic batting collapses. In Galle, they crashed to 117 in the fourth innings chasing a modest 168. At the P Sara Oval, they were bundled out for 90 in the first innings, but their collapse in the second was more dramatic. After staging a spirited comeback, they lost their last nine wickets for 35 runs and subsequently suffered their first ever Test series loss in Sri Lanka.The captain Younis Khan denied rumours of rifts within the team and also refused to quit after those defeats. Intikhab also refused to resign, following calls from various quarters that he was too old to coach the team.”I don’t think age has anything to do with it. And anyway I’m not yet 70,” said Intikhab, who is 67.Intikhab also welcomed the appointment of Javed Miandad as batting advisor to prepare for the upcoming Champions Trophy. The Pakistan Cricket Board is also expected to hire former opener Saeed Anwar as the batting coach.”Miandad has a lot of experience and I’m sure that his guidance will help our batsmen a lot,” Intikhab said.Shahid Afridi, Pakistan’s new Twenty20 captain, hoped his team would carry the winning momentum to the Champions Trophy in South Africa next month.”We had lost all the previous games and were desperate to win the last few and managed to do that easily,” Afridi said. “I hope that we will continue playing like that in the Champions Trophy.”

Unbeaten Canada win Americas Under-19 Championship

Canada emerged winners of the Americas Under-19 Championships with a five-run win over Bermuda in a rain-curtailed match at the Maple Leaf South-East Ground in King City. In a match reduced to 33 overs, Canada made 170 for 7, with Hiral Patel top scoring with 95. In the chase, Bermuda progressed to 111 for 4 in the 25th over before the dark storm clouds and howling winds forced the players indoors. At that stage, Canada were already ahead by five runs by the Duckworth-Lewis Method.With five straight wins, Canada have not only claimed the championship, but also a place in the ICC Under-19 World Cup Qualifiers in September. USA have also progressed to the qualifier, with four wins and one loss. Bermuda, who won the Americas U-19 title in 2007, finished third with three wins and two defeats. Bermuda’s Chris Douglas took 14 wickets to end the tournament as the leading bowler. Canada’s Rustum Bhatti was named best wicketkeeper.At the Maple Leaf North-East Ground, Bahamas U-19s beat Argentina U-19s by 57 runs, also by the Duckworth-Lewis Method. Bahamas made 187 for 7 in 31 overs while Argentina struggled to 88 for 7 in 22 overs before poor weather struck.Summary of scoresCanada 170 for 7 (33 overs) beat Bermuda 111 for 4 (24.2 overs) by 5 runs (D/L method)USA 226 for 8 (35 overs) beat Cayman Islands 65 (28 overs) by 161 runsBahamas 186 for 7 (31 overs) beat Argentina 88 for 7 (22 overs) by 57 runs (D/L method)

Kolkata sack Buchanan after disastrous season

Kolkata Knight Riders have ended John Buchanan’s stint as coach after a disastrous IPL season in which the team finished last and was beset by a succession of controversies. Buchanan, who has been released from his contract, has a short-term coaching assignment with the England board coming up and he said he wanted to concentrate on his coaching and corporate consulting work.Kolkata’s abysmal campaign in the 2009 IPL – they had three wins in 14 games – followed an inaugural season where they ended sixth out of eight teams.There are a few names in the mix to replace Buchanan, including Steve Waugh, Michael Bevan and Dav Whatmore; the Indian candidates include Lalchand Rajput.”John Buchanan has informed Knight Riders that despite his hard work over the past two seasons, he has not achieved everything that he set out to and has not been able take the franchise into the future as per his vision for this team,” Jay Mehta, co-owner of the franchise, said. “I would like to state that John is a great coach. He had a vision for Knight Riders and did not waver from this vision. Unfortunately, it has not brought the results that are so necessary to this franchise.”Buchanan may not have had too much success as Kolkata’s coach, but he felt the groundwork was in place for an improved performance next year. “Obviously, I am very disappointed in not being able to continue with the Knight Riders and complete the work I started some 18 months,” he said. “I think we have the makings of a very good IPL franchise, and the foundations are there for 2010.”A senior Kolkata official is understood to have already had an exploratory chat with Dav Whatmore, currently head of the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy (NCA). Whatmore, who declined to comment, is believed to be a strong contender for the job because of his track record in the subcontinent – he coached Sri Lanka to the World Cup title in 1996 and was also coach of the Bangladesh team that upset India in the 2007 World Cup – and his experience with the Indian academy in Bangalore.Michael Bevan, the former Australia batsman, who coached the ICL’s Chennai Superstars to the inaugural league title, is said to be in the frame as well although he has also been linked to Mumbai Indians. “At this stage, it is very early in the process,” Bevan, who confirmed that he had quit ICL, told Cricinfo. “It’s been a bit of sounding out to see if there’s interest from both parties. I don’t think it’s appropriate to comment on the teams concerned, but as far as I am aware these are head coaching roles. That obviously means different things in different teams but the extent of the roles in question I believe are quite senior.”One of the Indian names that a senior Kolkata player has suggested to the franchise is that of Rajput, the coach of India’s winning 2007 World Twenty20 squad. Rajput, who declined to comment, was associated with the Mumbai Indians squad last year but he did not figure in the second IPL season.There is no confirmation yet about the fate of Buchanan’s support staff, which included Matthew Mott (assistant head coach), Andy Bichel (bowling coach), Wade Seccombe (wicket-keeping coach), John Deeble (fielding coach), Brad Murphy (assistant coach), Michael Buchanan (strength trainer), who is Buchanan’s son, Andrew Leipus (physio) and Adrian Le Roux (trainer). “We are not in a position to comment on their status,” a team spokesperson said.Sources in New South Wales, where Mott is the team’s coach, said they believed “his Kolkata job is safe” but Indian media reports have claimed that only Leipus and Le Roux are expected to retain their positions with the IPL franchise. Mott will be in India in October with the New South Wales Twenty20 team for the Champions League.”I would love to stay,” Mott told Cricinfo. “I’ve had two great years with Kolkata. Lastseason was obviously hard work, but I thought towards the end of the tournament we got a bit out of it and showed a lot of character. I signed a three year contact, so hopefully I can fulfill that and beyond.”When you don’t have success then I guess everyone comes under the microscope. I know from speaking to some of the owners after the tournament that they were planning to conduct a pretty thorough review of the franchise.”

Pakistan favourites for World Twenty20 – Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram has tipped Pakistan to win next month’s World Twenty20 in England. Pakistan have lost just three of their 17 Twenty20 internationals and convincingly beat Australia by seven wickets in Dubai earlier this month.”Pakistan has the best winning ratio of all the teams in the Twenty20 cricket, so if they continue to keep that consistency it won’t be difficult to win,” Akram told AFP. “I thought Australia would thrash them in the one-off T20 match in Dubai but it was the other way round and now, if Pakistan play to their potential, they can win the title.”In the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007 Pakistan had finished as runners-up, going down by five runs to India in the final. For next month’s tournament, they are grouped with hosts England and the Netherlands in the initial league phase.Akram rated Pakistan’s bowling as their strongest suit, and said the batting was the only thing that could let them down. “With Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir and Shoaib Akhtar, if he is fit and going with the team, Pakistan has the best bowling attack backed by quality spin of Shahid Afridi,” he said. “I am also impressed with the talent of Mohammad Aamer who is nippy and can swing the ball both ways. He could be a revelation in the event.”Pakistan’s government had barred its country’s players from participating in the IPL, a factor that Akram thinks will work in Pakistan’s favour. “I think Pakistan has played less cricket and will be fresh, while Indian players could be fatigued after playing in the IPL.”

Windies fight against rising tide


Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentaryStuart Broad produced a superb over to remove Ramnaresh Sarwan for 100 and push West Indies towards the follow-on•Getty Images

England closed in on a 2-0 series clean sweep on the fourth day against West Indies at Chester-le-Street, as West Indies slumped to 115 for 3 in their second innings, having been asked to follow on, 266 runs in arrears, shortly after tea. By the close, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Lendl Simmons were fighting hard to stave off the innings defeat, but their hopes of the draw were dealt a huge blow when their first-innings centurion, Ramnaresh Sarwan, and their captain, Chris Gayle, were dismissed in the space of three deliveries from Graham Onions – Gayle having rampaged to 54 from 43 balls in an innings of massive intent.Despite the one-sided nature of the scoreline, England were made to fight hard on what was comfortably the most entertaining day of the series so far. In addition to Sarwan and Gayle, West Indies’ stand-out batsman was Denesh Ramdin, whose 55 from 82 balls helped rescue his side from a flaky 216 for 7 in the first innings, the bulk of those runs coming during a sparky eighth-wicket partnership of 70 with Sulieman Benn. For England, James Anderson wrapped up a richly deserved five-wicket haul, but their main man of the day was Stuart Broad, who bowled with thuggish intent and set England on course for victory with the pre-lunch scalps of Chanderpaul and SarwanUp until the moment that Broad had Chanderpaul caught behind for 27 with a well-disguised offcutter, England had toiled with little luck or reward for an hour and a half of the morning session. Under clear blue skies, West Indies’ fourth-wicket pair extended their partnership to 99, with the only real moment of discomfort coming when Sarwan, on 58, was struck a painful blow in the nether-regions. He upped his ante after Chanderpaul’s departure, however, and rushed to his hundred with a blazing straight drive off Broad followed by a cracking pull in front of square.But those strokes merely stoked Broad’s ire, and in a brilliant response he blasted Sarwan from the crease with a trio of vicious lifters, the third of which ballooned off his glove to Tim Bresnan at slip as he attempted to ride the bounce. England were jubilant, an opening had been forged, and when lunch was taken ten minutes later, West Indies were rocking on 188 for 5.But Brendan Nash and Ramdin dug in as best they could during an attritional post-lunch session, during which time England’s seamers made a point of banging the ball in short, to test both the surface and the mettle of their opponents, but perhaps most of all, their own stamina levels. The policy eventually forced the breakthrough – but only as a side-effect – when Nash, hanging back in his crease in anticipation of another short ball, failed to transfer his weight into a front-foot drive, and under-edged Anderson onto his leg stump for 10.Jerome Taylor then came and went in a flurry of adventurous swipes, as Onions pinned him with an arrow-straight lbw, and at 216 for 7, the stage was set for another West Indian capitulation. Ramdin and Benn, however, had other ideas, and frustrated England for an hour during an enterprising 70-run stand for the eighth wicket.Ramdin was the principle aggressor, particularly against Swann, who produced one of the least effective spells of his brief Test career as he was mowed over the top for five fours and a six in 15 deliveries. At the other end, Benn took a while to get going, perhaps assuming that England were aiming for his helmet every ball, but he took his chance when the luckless Bresnan was brought into the attack. On 4, he feathered an excellent delivery from round the wicket, but Prior behind the stumps didn’t flinch as the ball zipped through the gap with first slip.It’s not impossible that that was Bresnan’s best chance of claiming a Test wicket this summer. Hard though he tried, he was unable to produce the breakthrough delivery, and Benn was really beginning to enjoy himself when his demise was engineered in somewhat farcical circumstances. Another slog against Swann looped down towards Pietersen at long-on, who declined to go for the catch but instead pinged down the non-striker’s stumps with Benn well short of his ground.With three balls to go until the new ball, that paved the way for the confrontation that the entire crowd had been waiting for. In came Edwards and back came Anderson, armed and dangerous after the peppering he had received while batting on the third day. Edwards was unbothered, however, and a visibly wound-up Anderson had the worst of the battle in their solitary over before the break, as he conceded two boundaries and earned a contemptuous pat of the pitch from Edwards as a misdirected bouncer whistled down the leg-side.On the stroke of the break, however, Broad clanged Edwards on the grille with a well-directed bouncer, and he claimed his wicket with the very next ball he faced, as Andrew Strauss did well to keep his eyes on the ball at first slip as Edwards climbed into a swipe across the line. His removal allowed Anderson to get his focus back to what he does best, and he needed only three more deliveries before Ramdin fenced outside off to complete superb figures of 5 for 87.By this stage, England’s wicketkeeping duties were being carried out by Collingwood, after Prior was sent to hospital for an X-ray after taking a blow on his right ring finger. The injury was not serious, and he will resume his duties after a night’s rest, but England were off the pace as they began the second innings. Gayle took full toll with a remarkable cameo that went some way towards silencing his critics.Gayle slapped his second ball, from Anderson, down the ground for six, and didn’t look back after that. Anything too short or too full got the treatment, as he smoked six fours and two sixes in total, with Onions in particular getting some tap as he failed to locate his optimum length. At the other end, Devon Smith continued his woeful run against Swann as he was trapped lbw by the second ball he faced, but Sarwan began with intent, racing to 15 from 10 balls as England were made to work for their wickets.But their policy of banging the ball in short continued to pay dividends, and Onions – still fresh from the memory of his four wickets in seven balls at Lord’s – showed a timely ability to repeat that sort of form. Sarwan had been pushed back into his crease when he was pinned lbw for 22 by a full-length ball, and then, one leg-bye later, came the big one. Gayle misjudged a back-of-a-length delivery, Strauss at slip pouched the chance off the shoulder of the bat, and England were left needing seven more wickets on the final day.

Benkenstein rescues champions as bowlers dominate

Division One

Mark Ramprakash reaches yet another hundred for Surrey at The Oval … and keeps his average against his old side, Middlesex, in three figures•PA Photos

Dale Benkenstein continued his impressive form as he cracked 136 to help Durham fight back from 104 for 5 to close on 318 for 7 against Sussex at Hove. Sussex’s bowlers made the best of testing conditions early on, and 84 for 3 at lunch soon became something more serious for the champions as two wickets fell straight after the resumption. But Liam Plunkett (65*) and Benkenstein, who scored 181 last week against Somerset, added 148 for the seventh wicket, before Benkenstein fell in the closing overs.Worcestershire’s batting woes continued as they were bundled out for 167 by Lancashire at New Road. Glen Chapple took 6 for 34 and Sajid Mahmood claimed 4 for 65 as the home side folded in less than two sessions. The pace pair reduced Worcestershire 36 for 4 with the new ball as Chapple removed both openers – Stephen Moore caught at short leg first ball and Daryl Mitchell lbw – and Mahmood had Vikram Solanki caught down the leg side. Moeen Ali and Steven Davies began a recover as they added 88 for the fifth wicket, but when Ali was caught behind off Chapple the innings folded and the last six wickets fell for 43. Lancashire didn’t find batting much easier as Chris Whelan claimed the top three, but Mark Chilton and Steven Croft steadied the innings with a positive stand of 68 before Croft was trapped lbw by Matt Mason. Chilton reached the close unbeaten on 51 as the visitors moved into a five-run advantage.For a full report of Warwickshire against Yorkshire at Edgbaston click here.For a full report from Nottinghamshire against Somerset at Trent Bridge click here.

Division Two

While events at Lord’s dominated the headlines, a few miles to the south the lowest of low-key London derbies was taking place, and a Mark Ramprakash hundred gave Surrey the edge against Middlesex as they closed on 290 for 5 at The Oval. Ramprakash rarely fails to perform well against the county he left under a cloud – he averages a tad over 100 against them – and his unbeaten 126 held together Surrey, whose batting so far this summer has been as suspect as Ricky Hatton’s chin. With Usman Afzaal (82) he posted 143 for the third wicket, but late wickets from Tim Murtagh and Alan Richardson ensured Middlesex ended the day on a high.Kent’s finances might be a more parlous state than Ireland’s, but their members briefly forgot their county’s woes as two 19-year-olds bailed their side out against Glamorgan at Canterbury. But for 87 from Sam Northeast and 90 from Wayne Parnell, Kent would have got nowhere near their final total of 282. Northeast, who was only called up when Joe Denly fell ill with a migraine, held together the top of the innings after Kent crashed from 63 for 0 to 84 for 5, and made the most of being dropped off the third ball of the day. One of those to fall in the collapse, Darren Stevens, was later found to have fractured a finger on his left hand after being struck by a lifter from Garnet Kruger and will be out for a month. When Northeast went caught behind, James Tredwell (59) and Parnell added 151 before Parnell’s dismissal – to sharp return catch by Robert Croft, heralded the loss of the last four wickets for no runs in nine deliveries. However, Parnell wasn’t quite finished as he had Gareth Rees caught in the slips, Glamorgan closing on 27 for 1.Wickets tumbled at Bristol where Leicestershire were bowled out for 133 and Gloucestershire limped to 75 for 4 by the close. Former Zimbabwe international Anthony Ireland, only drafted in because of injury, did the bulk of the damage with 6 for 31 as Leicestershire, who were 83 for 0, lost all their wickets for 50 runs after the ball had been changed for going out of shape. Gloucestershire soon found themselves wobbling on 20 for 3 before staging a slight recovery. Alex Wyatt, making his Championship debut, impressed with 2 for 22.Essex also lost their bearings after making a good start against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road, slipping from 94 for 0 to 221 all out. Former South Africa seamer Andrew Hall, who came on third change, took 5 for 29 in two spells, triggering the collapse and then polishing off the tail. Northants reached 63 for 1 by the end, losing Niall O’Brien to the last ball of the day when he got a leading edge off Graham Napier to mid-off.

Joe Gatting signs for Sussex

After impressing Sussex during the pre-season Pro Arch tournament in Dubai, Joe Gatting has signed a two-year contract with the club, keeping him at the Hove until the end of the 2010 season.Joe, 21, is the nephew of the former England captain Mike Gatting. He had originally been selected on the club’s Academy Plus scheme, but his hard work and dedication over the winter culminated an impressive 110 against a strong Surrey side in Abu Dhabi.”This is a great opportunity for me,” said Gatting. “It was the right time to call it a day with football and concentrate fully on cricket. I have thoroughly enjoyed the winter training with the first team squad and was pleased with my performance in Abu Dhabi. I am looking forward to what promises to be a very exciting season.”Mark Robinson, Sussex CCC Professional Cricket Manager, said: “Joe has worked with the squad this winter and earned the right to travel with the first team squad to Abu Dhabi. He continued to look at total ease within the environment and capped it all off by playing the innings of the tournament, of any team, against Surrey in scoring 110.”We are all excited by the prospect of watching his career develop at Hove.”

Richardson helps Jamaica maintain supremacy at the top

Darren Sammy struck eight fours and a six during his 100-ball innings for Windward Islands © DigicelCricket.com/Brooks La Touche Photography
 

Andrew Richardson and Nikita Miller shared eight wickets between them as Jamaica handed Trinidad & Tobago their first defeat of the season at the Alpart Sports Club. Adrian Barath top-scored with 71 while Darren Bravo stroked 70 but T&T, set a challenging 371 to win, fell short by 124 runs. Starting the day at 70 without loss, T&T were in early trouble when Richardson struck twice in quick succession to remove Imran Khan and Daren Ganga, who bagged a pair. Barath and Bravo then settled down to rebuild the innings with a productive stand of 87 for the third wicket. Barath struck two fours and a six during his 143-ball innings while Bravo hit six fours in his 170-ball stay. They took T&T to lunch at 143 for 2 but any hopes of extending the partnership were crushed when Richardson accounted for Barath with the score on 160. Miller then removed Kieron Pollard for 11 before Richardson dismissed Bravo to trigger a lower-order slide. Richardson finished with a five-wicket haul while Miller ended with 3 for 65.Allrounder Darren Sammy’s tenacious, unbeaten half-century guided Windward Islands to a narrow one wicket win over Barbados at the Kensington Oval. Sammy hit a superb 70 as Windwards, set 196 to win, reached the target just before tea on the final day. Starting the day on 61 for 1, Windards suffered early setbacks: Nikolai Charles trapped Johnson Charles leg before, while Corey Collymore accounted for Andre Fletcher (9) and Camilus Alexander (39), to leave Windwards struggling at 94 for 4. Sammy and Kevin James put on 38 for the fifth wicket, but Kemar Roach bowled James for 15 to spark a sudden collapse as five wickets tumble for 38. But Sammy and Nelon Pascal managed to hold on for the win as Windwards leap-frogged Barbados into second spot on the points table.Rain and defective covers combined to thwart Guyana‘s victory bid as there was no play on the final day of their match against Combined Campuses & Colleges (CCC) in Georgetown. There was seepage under the covers at Bourda following overnight and early morning rain, and the umpires Dashroy Balgobin and Goaland Greaves called off play at 2pm local time. Guyana moved up to sixth place, thanks to the first-innings points, as CCC replaced them at the bottom.

Team Mat Won Lost Tied Draw Aban Pts
Jamaica 8 5 1 0 2 0 72
Windward Islands 8 5 3 0 0 0 60
Barbados 8 4 2 0 2 0 54
Trinidad & T 8 1 1 0 6 0 45
Leeward Islands 7 3 3 0 1 0 43
Guyana 8 0 5 0 3 0 20
Comb CC 7 1 4 0 2 0 18
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