Windwards storm to seven-wicket win

Windward Islands got their season back on track after two heavy defeats against Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago. The points gained from the seven-wicket victory over Combined Campuses & Colleges (CCC) in Barbados pushed them up from fifth to third on the points table. Windwards chased 91 for victory after they ended CCC's second innings at 186 about five minutes before tea, and they got there with about five minutes left for scheduled close.

CCC, comfortably placed at 101 for 1 just before lunch, completely lost the plot as the last six wickets fell for 28 runs. Nekoli Parris top scored with 57, while Omar Phillips managed 47. For Windwards, Shane Shillingford picked up 4 for 47, while Rawl Lewis and Liam Sebastien finished with two wickets apiece. Andre Fletcher, again led the way for Windwards with an unbeaten 42, putting on 47 for the fourth wicket with Lewis to take the visitors home after stumbling early during the chase.

Legspinner Davendra Bishoo starred with 6 for 64 for Guyana against Leeward Islands on a tense third day in Nevis. With a slender four-run first-innings advantage, the 23-year-old Bishoo and former West Indies Under-19 left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul combined for nine wickets and tormented the Leewards' batsmen, bowling them out for 245 in 80 overs in their second innings. Resuming on 63 for 1, Montcin Hodge, returning to the Leewards side after being omitted for the third-round match against Barbados, played well and got to his second first-class fifty, which came off 121 balls with six boundaries. His half-century partnership for the third wicket with Tonito Willett took Leewards to 137 for 2 at lunch, but he was trapped leg-before by Bishoo on 78 soon after resumption. Though the rest of the batsmen did get starts, they failed to convert them, and the last five wickets fell for 22 runs. Leewards though, landed two important late-afternoon blows to leave Guyana on 36 for 2 at stumps, still needing 206 for the win.

Defending champions and table-toppers Jamaica were left to chase an easy 201 after the Barbados batsmen failed to put up a challenging total in Jamaica. They were shot out for a disappointing 221. Legspinner Odean Brown led Jamaica's attack with 3 for 40 and Wavell Hinds supported him well with 2 for 14. Rashidi Boucher scored 48 at the top of the order while wicketkeeper Patrick Browne struck an unbeaten 57 to lead a fightback after Barbados had slipped to 150 for 7 by mid-afternoon. But despite a 66-run stand with debutant allrounder Barrington Yearwood (24), Browne received no real support from the lower order: the visitors lost their last three wickets for five runs.