Regional U-19: Ram, Hetmyer and spinners deliver Guyana’s first victory

Skipper Parmeshwar Ram and Adrian Hetmyer struck commanding half-centuries before the spin duo of Dhanesh Persaud and Gilbert Griffith spun a web, propelling Guyana to a comprehensive 121-run victory over the Leeward Islands in the Regional Under-19 50-Over tournament at the Liberta Sports Club in Antigua on Saturday.

The result marked a long-awaited first win of the campaign for the Guyanese.

FULL SCORECARD: https://matchcentre.windiescricket.com/match/940efebf-8693-485d-834d-e61c3c48b89b/2

Guyana posted 272 all out in 47.1 overs, a total largely built on a 104-run third-wicket partnership between Ram and Hetmyer.

Ram played the aggressor, blasting ten fours and three sixes in an 82-ball 79. Hetmyer, registering his second consecutive fifty-plus score, anchored the innings with a composed 76 off 90 deliveries, striking seven boundaries and a six.

Despite the solid platform, familiar ghosts returned to haunt the Guyanese batting lineup. Wickets fell in clusters, threatening another catastrophic collapse, with only four batters managing to reach double figures.

However, Emmanuel Lewis intervened with a brutal late cameo, smashing 42 from just 23 balls—featuring three fours and four sixes—to push the total well past the 250-mark.

Seamers Matthew Miller, who bagged 4 for 45, and Kerique Mentore, with 2 for 51, did the bulk of the damage for the hosts.

Facing a daunting chase, the Leeward Islands were never truly in the hunt, ultimately folding for 151 in 37.4 overs.

Ram set the tone with the new ball, claiming 2 for 32 in his six overs, before the spinners completely dismantled the middle and lower order.

Leg-spinner Persaud returned exceptional figures of 4 for 31 from 9.4 overs, while left-arm spinner Griffith choked the scoring rate with 3 for 29 from his full quota of 10.

Kunal Tilokani (37) and Lawshorn Bergan (31) offered the only notable resistance for the hosts.

While the victory provided a much-needed morale boost, Guyana remain out of title contention.

They will wrap up their preliminary campaign on Monday against the Windward Islands from 09:30h at the Pigotts Sports Ground.

Summarised scores of other matches:

At Bethesda Sports Ground: Jamaica 252-3 from 50 overs (Tyson Gordon Jr. 102*, Odane Binns 55, Demarco Scott 52*; Theo Edward 1-17) beat Windward Islands 139 all out from 25.3 overs (Cody Fontinelle 47, Aiden Burton 38; Perico Henry 4-28, Joel Williams 2-25) by 113 runs

At Pigotts Sports Ground: Barbados 142-4 from 31.1 overs (Seth Smith 40*, Jordan Graham 37, Justin Paris 27; Renaldo Fournillier 2-20) beat Trinidad and Tobago 141 from 37.1 overs (Christian Lall 54, Levi Ghanny 25, Brandan Boodoo 22; Rajeev Parsooram 5-35, Justin Parris 2-9, Raphael Lovell 2-21) by six wickets