Windward on top after Leeward collapse

Windward Islands seized control of their contest in St. Lucia, bowling out Leeward Islands out for a paltry 75. Fast bowlers Darren Sammy and Deighton Butler took three wickets each, and legspinner Shane Shillingford, proved the most effective with 3 for 15, as only one Leewards batsman, Shane Jeffers, managed to reach double figures. In response, Windward, after struggling at one point at 95 for 5, recovered to 218 for 7, with Donwell Hector spearheading their innings with an unbeaten 67. Test prospect Lionel Baker took 5 for 67, but Windward had gained a potentially decisive first innings lead of 143 at stumps.

Leeward opted to bat first but got off to a poor start as Sammy and Butler ran through the top-order. Former internationals Runako Morton and Omari Banks scored only six runs between them as the Leewards batsmen only managed a highest stand of 26, for the eighth wicket. Shillingford wrapped up the innings with two wickets at the end, and extras - eight in all - was the second-highest score in the innings.

Baker took the first four wickets to fall in the Windward reply, but Sammy and captain Raul Lewis contributed valuable 30-plus scores to rally around Hector and lead the recovery. Shillingford fell for 19 just before stumps to give Baker his fifth wicket, but Windwards were well and truly on top having to overhaul a poor first-innings score.

Ryan Hinds and Jason Haynes helped Barbados dominate a rain-hit first day against Guyana at Windward Park. They added 196 for the second wicket and led Barbados to a healthy 298 for 4 at stumps. The innings was hampered by a three-wicket burst in the final session for just 12 runs, but Haynes and Dwayne Smith added an unbeaten 90 for the fifth wicket to steady the hosts.

Asked to bat, Barbados started poorly, losing opener Rashidi Boucher to Brandon Bess for a duck. However, Hinds was in great form, staking a claim for a place in the Test side with 134, laced with 21 fours and a six, and he was well supported by Haynes, who was unbeaten on a patient 222-ball 89. The introduction of spin broke their stand: Royston Crandon bowled Hinds to trigger a middle-order collapse. But Smith played aggressively, striking five fours and a six in his 64-ball innings to put the match back in Barbados' control.

The game was evenly poised in St.Augustine after Trinidad and Tobago restricted Combined Campuses and Colleges to 269 for 8 on the first day.

Fast bowlers Atiba Allert and Richard Kelly - who took two wickets each - provided T&T with early breakthroughs, limiting the hosts to 53 for 3. However, CCC recovered to 153 for 3, after Nekoli Paris and Floyd Reifer, who top-scored with 82, added 100. Reifer struck eight fours and two sixes in his innings, and was well supported by Parris, who made a patient 58. However, another collapse followed, this time with introduction of Samuel Badree's leg spin, and CCC lost four wickets for 18. Lower-order batsmen Ryan Austin and Kavesh Kantasingh took their team through to stumps with an unbeaten 40-run stand, but CCC will be ruing wasting a good position.