Hurricanes decimate feeble Harpy Eagles with a day to spare

Guyana Harpy Eagles’ title hopes in the Regional Four-Day Championship endured a massive dent on Thursday with a rampant Leeward Islands Hurricanes wrapping up victory by a commanding innings and 57 runs on day three of the second round game at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.

The Harpy Eagles were always on the back foot after posting a paltry 116 on the first day, and after conceding a massive lead of 322, it came down to a matter of survival for the South Americans.

Batting a second time, Harpy Eagles slipped to 14-3 with opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul (4), Test batsman Shimron Hetmyer (5) and the team’s most experienced batsman Leon Johnson (0) sent packing by a fired up Alzarri Joseph.

Opener Chandrapaul Hemraj and fellow left-hander Vishaul Singh forged a 59-run partnership for the fourth wicket before the latter was bowled by Jeremiah Louis for 18.

It soon became 84-5 when Louis struck again, bowling Hemraj for 50 (45 balls; 11x4s).

Keemo Paul and Anthony Bramble then stitched together 41 for the sixth wicket, before Paul was caught behind for 28 off 29 deliveries.

Clinton Pestano then joined Bramble for a 52-run seventh wicket stand, which ended when Pestano was struck leg before by Daniel Doram for 22 at 177-7.

Five runs later, Veerasammy Permaul was trapped leg before by Joseph for three and Bramble was caught behind off the bowling of Joseph for a topscore of 58 (70 balls; 5x4s, 2x6s) at 205-9.

Gudakesh Motie and Nial Smith then delayed the inevitable, with a last wicket partnership of 60 in exactly eight overs. The innings ended with Smith falling to Colin Archibald for 17.

Motie remained unbeaten on 49 off 52 balls (6x4s, 2x6s).

Joseph picked up 5-94, Archibald 2-31 and Louis 2-50.

Earlier, Hurricanes, resuming on 366-5, added 72 runs for the loss of two wickets before declaring midway through the morning session.

Terance Ward, who started the day on 46, was left not out on 78, while Archibald made a quickfire 38 off 19 (2x4s, 4x6s). Smith ended with 3-100 and Motie 3-119.

Below are the summaries of the other two games:

At Brian Lara Cricket Academy: Trinidad and Tobago Red Force defeated Windward Islands Volcanoes by an innings and 43 runs. Trinidad and Tobago Red Force 326 all out (Joshua DaSilver 73, Yannick Cariah 72, Jeremy Solozano 66, Terrance Hinds 57; Sherman Lewis 5-43) vs Windward Islands Volcanoes 98 all out (Alick Athanaze 33; Anderson Phillip 4-32, Jayden Seales 3-31, Imran Khan 2-3) and 186 all out (Denis Smith 65; Imran Khan 4-38, Anderson Phillip 3-31)

At the Kensington Oval: Jamaica Scorpions 328 all out (John Campbell 127, Paul Palmer 76, Nkrumah Bonner 49, Leroy Lugg 39; Raymon Reifer 6-23) and 56-1 (Jermaine Blackwood 24*, John Campbell 15*) vs Barbados Pride 521-8 declared (Kraigg Brathwaite 276, Raymon Reifer 71, Jonathan Carter 68, Shamarh Brooks 39; Patrick Harty 5-111)