The tag of champions for five consecutive seasons of the Windies Four-Day Championship seems likely to remain with Guyana Jaguars after they defeated Trinidad and Tobago Red Force by six wickets at the National Stadium, Providence, on Saturday.
Their seventh win of the season means they have amassed 154.2 points even though their strongest challenger Leeward Hurricanes still a have match to contest. Technically, Hurricanes can win the title if they defeat Barbados Pride in their final match and gather 23 points out of a maximum of 24. However, that scenario is quite improbable.
In a season where they lost three matches, which placed the title quest in a precarious spot, Jaguars aced the chase of 162 in the Day/night contest with much ease, ending on 164-4.
Starting the third day with just 93 for the champagne popping to begin, Leon Johnson was focused on ending in a positive vein. He progressed from an overnight total of 37 to reach his fourth half-century this season.
Thoughts were booming of a possible century, a first for this season, until an attempted sweep off Bryan Charles meant he was trapped plumb leg before. His determined 76 included 14 boundaries from the 125 balls faced.
He shared a 111-run stand with the resolute Tagenarine Chanderpaul which steadied ship from a position of 12-2. Chanderpaul ended on 43, while Anthony Bramble smashed Charles for six to seal the win and end as the team’s leading run-scorer this season with 580 runs.
After the match, skipper Johnson said: “It is good to win the game; the bowlers came out yesterday and did well…statistically, we probably would have won the it [the title]. The most points from my knowledge gained in a regional game is 21.6, which we achieved a couple years ago…so barring a miracle we basically would have won the title.”
