Regional U-19: Windward Islands crush Guyana by 219 runs

A blistering opening assault from Theo Edward and Derwin Lewis, followed by a ruthless new-ball display led by Elran Glasgow, consigned Guyana to a 219-run defeat against the Windward Islands in the Regional Under-19 tournament.

Chasing a daunting 316, Guyana folded spectacularly for 96 in just 17.1 overs, bringing a grim end to a disappointing preliminary campaign.

The foundation for the massive Windward Islands victory was laid as soon as they won the toss and elected to bat.

Edward and Lewis showed no mercy, tearing into the Guyanese attack to mount an opening stand of 157 that effectively batted the opposition out of the contest.

Captain Edward led from the front, blazing his way to 87 off a mere 58 deliveries, peppering the boundary with 11 fours and four sixes.

Lewis matched his skipper’s destructive intent, compiling a fluent 73 from 71 balls in an innings decorated with six massive sixes and five boundaries.

Even as Guyana attempted to drag themselves back into the contest through Adrian Hetmyer, who claimed an impressive 4 for 47, and Gilbert Griffith (3 for 36), the Windwards’ momentum never stalled.

Khavaughn Bartholomew and Aiden Burton chipped in with handy knocks of 29 and 28 respectively, before Cody Fontinelle supplied the finishing touches.

Fontinelle was utterly brutal at the death, smashing four sixes in a 20-ball 33 to propel his side to an imposing 315 for 9 in their 50 overs.

Confronted with extreme scoreboard pressure, the Guyanese batting order disintegrated against the discipline of the Windward Islands seamers.

Glasgow was the chief tormentor, ripping through the top and middle order to finish with phenomenal figures of 4 for 30.

Tyler Venner provided suffocating support, claiming 3 for 11 as the specialist batters offered zero resistance.

In a damning indictment of the Guyanese top order, it took a defiant, freewheeling cameo from number 11 batsman Darwin Joseph to drag the team anywhere near the 100-run mark.

Joseph swung merrily for a brisk 19-ball 33, while Griffith’s 14 was the only other double-figure contribution in an innings that lasted just 103 legal deliveries.

The catastrophic defeat leaves Guyana with just a solitary victory from their preliminary round fixtures, exposing severe shortcomings with the bat.

They will, however, have an immediate opportunity for redemption against the exact same opposition, as Guyana and the Windward Islands are slated to meet again in the fifth-place playoff on Wednesday at the Pigotts Sports Ground.

Summarised scores of other matches:

At Bethesda Sports Ground: Barbados 110-3 from 14.4 overs (Jordan Graham 29, Gadson Bowens 21, Kemar Dixon 19*; Perico Henry 1-9) beat Jamaica 107 all out from 27.5 overs (Geovanni Grey 24, Joel Williams 16; Zarell Harding 4-24, Justin Parris 3-17)  by six wickets

At Liberta Sports Club: Trinidad and Tobago 273-6 from 48.2 overs (Tariq Richards 88, Ethan Ramcharan 48, Levi Ghanny 47, Christiano Ramanan 23*; Kunal Tilokani 3-38, Lyhte Browne 2-31) beat Leeward Islands 270-9 from 50 overs (Eirette Richards 83, Matthew Miller 65, Tanez Francis 38; Qadeer Juman 4-29, Christian Lall 3-15) by four wickets