Guyana Harpy Eagles pulled off an exciting five-wicket victory over Barbados Pride in a thrilling final session of their third round clash in the Cricket West Indies’ Regional Four-Day Championship at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.
Final scores in the match: Guyana Harpy Eagles 490-7 declared and 71-5; Barbados Pride 266 and 291.
Set a target of 68 in 13 overs, Harpy Eagles were reduced to 46-5 after 9.1 overs, before Tagenarine Chanderpaul went berserk, smashing four fours in an unbeaten 23 off 10 balls to guide his side home.
The left-handed Chanderpaul, batting at number seven after Harpy Eagles reshuffled the batting order, tore into the Bajan attack, playing a memorable scoop for four off Akeem Jordan in the penultimate over the match.
The innings by ‘Tage’ was in complete contrast to his marathon 140 not out in the first innings, that spanned 434 deliveries.
Harpy Eagles closed off the match on 71-5, winning with exactly an over to spare. Skipper Leon Johnson was the other not out batsman on 14 off 24.
In the chase, Harpy Eagles lost opener Chandrapaul Hemraj (6) and Keemo Paul (10) cheaply, as well as Tevin Imlach (7), Akshaya Persaud (4) and Gudakesh Motie (2) as Jordan picked up 4-31.
Earlier, Barbados Pride, resuming on 44-0 and still trailing by 180 runs after being forced to follow-on, were dismissed for 291 with skipper and opener Kraigg Brathwaite the ninth wicket to fall for 111 (241 balls; 16x4s).
Paul picked up 4-90, Nial Smith 3-76 and Gudakesh Motie 2-35.
The victory for Harpy Eagles has put them back on course to challenge for the title. They next face Jamaica Scorpions from May 25 at the Diego Martin Sports Complex.
Below are summarised scores from the other games
At Diego Martin Sports Complex: Leeward Islands Hurricanes 357 all out (Kieran Powell 139, Amir Jangoo 58, Jeremiah Louis 42*; Jayden Seales 5-49) and 241-7 declared (Devon Thomas 84, Kieran Powell 83; Yannic Cariah 3-33) vs Trinidad and Tobago Red Force 140 all out (Joshua DaSilva 65; Colin Archibald 4-27, Jeremiah Louis 4-32) and 271 all out (Yannic Cariah 100, Jason Mohammed 36, Jayden Seales 33; Rahkeem Cornwall 4-50, Jeremiah Louis 3-31). Leeward Islands Hurricanes win by 187 runs.
At Brian Lara Cricket Academy: Windward Islands Volcanoes 137 all out (Keron Cottoy 50; Marquindo Mindley 5-20, Nicholson Gordon 4-43) and 195 all out (Kaveem Hodge 63, Devon Smith 34; Derval Green 5-46, Jamie Merchant 5-72) vs Jamaica Scorpions 346 all out (Brandon King 119*, Jamie Merchant 58, John Campbell 48; Preston McSween 4-96, Josh Thomas 3-56). Jamaica Scorpions win by an innings and 14 runs.
Bhai, Tage gave me the most pleasant shock of my life with that wonderful batting display. The man morphed from cub to tiger within a few deliveries. Bravo, Tage!! And thank you.