FOUR-DAY: Chanderpaul (184), Singh (100*) put Harpy Eagles in control

Report and Photography by Akeem Greene in Trinidad

The runs continue to flow from the bat of Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who carved out a second successive century, a majestic 184, to put Guyana Harpy Eagles in control against Jamaica Scorpions by stumps on day three of their Cricket West Indies Four-Day match at Diego Martin Sporting Complex, Trinidad.

Eagles have secured a vital lead on a batting paradise, built on another marathon innings by Chanderpaul and then a brutal unbeaten hundred from seasoned campaigner Vishaul Singh.

Coming off scores of 140* and 23* against Barbados Pride in the previous match, Chanderpaul batted for over nine and a half hours, faced 425 balls, and struck 25 fours in his fourth century and highest First-Class score.

Eagles closed the penultimate day on 584-7 with a healthy lead of 191 heading into the final’s play, but the big question is whether there is enough time to push for a result on the dream pitch for any batsman.

A bit too slow

Harpy Eagles started the day 213-1 from 68 overs and reached the lunch interval at 285-1 from 83 overs, which meant they added 72 runs in 25 overs.

In the first-hour post-lunch, they added only 22 runs in 15 overs and lost Tevin Imlach, who chipped down the wicket to pacer Alwyn Williams only to produce an edge to the keeper. He crumbled to the pressure after a string of tight overs by Scorpions.

However, he scored his second successive half-century via another well-composed inning of 79 from 198 balls, hitting nine fours and one maximum, and once again shared a solid stand with Chanderpaul.

The two added 180 runs for the second wicket in 73.3 overs to follow up their 94-run stand against Barbados Pride.

To draw a parallel, Scorpions added 111 from 19.3 overs in their morning session on day two with just four wickets intact.

Scorpions reached 393 all out in 109.3 overs, while Eagles took the lead at 395-3 from 128 overs.

With the Eagles needing a win to stay alive in the title race, the expectation was more of a positive approach to force a result in their favour on the placid strip.

Singh and Johnson up the tempo

Though the temptation would have been to send the pugnacious Keemo Paul, Kevin Sinclair or even Gudakesh Motie to push for quick runs, skipper Leon Johnson came at four and got the Eagles’ run rate up.

The 34-year-old raced to his 40^th First-Class fifty from 68 balls and struck eight fours as he and Chanderpaul added 94 in 23.2 overs.

Singh also threw caution to the wind with some expansive flicks and dives on his way to a rapid 100* off just 85 balls (15x4s) and shared another swift stand of 61 with Chanderpaul.

Singh, who scored his eighth century, also added 75 for the seventh wicket with Kevin Sinclair, who contributed 36 (2x4s) from 41 balls.

Below are the summarised scores from the other games

At Brian Lara Cricket Academy: Trinidad and Tobago Red Force 133 (Imran Khan 29, Terrance Hinds 25, Joshua DaSilva 23; Jomel Warrican 3-21, Akeem Jordan 2-17, Ramon Simmonds 2-24, Justin Greaves 2-26) and 139 (Yannic Cariah 35*, Keagan Simmons 31 Jeremy Solozano 14; Roston Chase 2-26, Greaves 3-27, Jordan 3-32) lost to Barbados Pride 294 (Raymon Reifer 79, Greaves 50, Jonathan Carter 41, Jordan 31; Hinds 5-32, Imran Khan 2-60) by an innings and 22 runs.

At Queen’s Park Oval: Leeward Hurricanes: 333 (Collin Archibald 106*, Jahmar Hamilton 52, Daniel Doram 43, Terance Ward 30; Preston McSween 5-92, Kenneth Dember 2-77) and 252-8 declared (Devon Thomas 50, Ross Powell 40, Rahkeem Cornwall 38; Dember 3-62, Darius Martin 3-93) lead Windward Volcanoes 173 (Keron Cottoy 73*, Devon Smith 35; Rahkeem Cornwall 5-61, Jeremiah Louis 3-26) and 127-3 (Kimani Melius 51, Kaveem Hodge 25*; Cornwall 2-20) 286 by runs.

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