Narsingh Deonarine ton carries Guyana to semis

Narsingh Deonarine's unbeaten century boosted Guyana into the semi-finals of the WICB President's Cup with a seven-wicket success over Barbados at Albion. Chasing 232, Guyana were indebted to Deonarine's 102 which sealed the win with 6.5 overs remaining out of an allotted 49.

Deonarine put on 133 off 114 balls for the third wicket with Shivnarine Chanderpaul (38*), the pair having come together in the 24th over when the captain Ramnaresh Sarwan chipped a return catch to Dwayne Smith. There were no further hiccups, however, as Deonarine and Chanderpaul battered the bowlers and move Guyana to eight points following their first-round victory over the Leeward Islands on Wednesday.

Barbados had began drastically after Ryan Hinds opted to bat. Martin Nurse went second ball of the innings, nicking Esuan Crandon behind for 0. Hinds (31) and Kirk Edwards (32) added 68 for the second wicket to restore order but Hinds' dismissal, bowled by Crandon in the 16th over, opened the sluice gates. Barbados proceeded to lose six wickets for 52 runs to crash to 120 for 7 in the 32nd over. Suliemann Benn, the West Indies left-arm spinner, swung his way to 39 from 40 balls in an 82-run stand with Khalid Springer (45 from 37) that got Barbados past 200. The pair were dismissed within nine balls of each other and the tail went cheaply.

Barbados, on four points, will face Leewards in their final preliminary round match on Saturday in an attempt to claim one of the three remaining semi-final berths.

In a rain-hit match at the Providence Stadium, the two bottom-placed teams were hit with another road block. Leeward Islands were 37 for 0 after six overs against West Indies Under-19, out of which 31 came off Kieron Powell's bat, when rain stopped play. The showers continued and play was called off at 2:00pm. The game was abandoned as a no-result. The Leewards and West Indies U-19s were already coming off losses in Wednesday's opening matches and remain stuck at the bottom of the points tables with one point each.

Jamaica's shot at sealing a place in the semi-finals look slim after their match against Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) was washed out at Georgetown. Persistent rain forced an abandonment just 12.1 overs into CCC's innings after they opted to bat. With the score 41 for 2, the players were hurried into shelter and the rain continued through the afternoon, leaving the umpires Clyde Duncan and Dalton Holder to call off play at 1:45 pm. Jerome Taylor's two wickets in the first over had boosted Jamaica but a 37-run partnership between Romel Currency and Nekoli Perris put matters back on course before the deluge.

Both teams received a point for the abandonment, leaving CCC with four points following win over the Windward Islands on Wednesday, and Jamaica with a single point after they were beaten by Trinidad & Tobago in their opening match.

Rain played spoilsport at West Demerara as well, where no play was possible for Trinidad & Tobago and the Windward Islands.