Motie six-for helps Guyana firm up top spot

Gudakesh Moti, the left-arm spinner who made his first-class debut only a month ago, has taken a fourth five-wicket haul in five matches to entrench Guyana atop the Regional 4-day Tournament points table for 2015-16. He bowled 23.3 overs, allowed a meager 33 runs, and snatched up six wickets to hand Jamaica their second loss of the season, by 117 runs at Sabina Park.

Fourth-innings chases are invariably tough, but the hosts' battling line-up did not do themselves any favours. They had already been bundled out for 146 in their first innings, which was the major reason for their target being 326. In the second innings, as many as six batsmen faced more than fifty balls each, but none of them could reach a score of fifty. That is not to slight the increased determination. Tamar Lambert made 30 off 128, debutant Rovman Powell spent over two hours at the crease for his 23 and Jamaica batted out more than 100 overs in search of the draw, but it wasn't to be as Motie broke through. The 20-year old dismissed the final six batsmen, including Lambert and Powell to become the top wicket-taker in the competition.

That mantle had been with Jamaica's own left-arm spinner Nikita Miller only a few days ago. He had taken 6 for 46 off 26 overs to restrict Guyana to 189 in their first innings, and claim the top spot. Motie only got one wicket off 11 overs on his first try, but Jamaica didn't have it much easier as his left-arm team-mate Veerasammy Permaul spun them out with 5 for 25 in 22. 5 overs, an economy rate of 1.09.

Guyana claimed a lead of 43, then Tagenarine Chanderpaul became the only batsman with a substantial score in the entire match, a situation his father Shivnarine has come across many a time. Tagenarine made 81 off 249 balls and, with handy contributions down the order, pushed the lead past 300.

A string of top-order fifties from Trinidad & Tobago beat a string of lower-order fifties from Windward Islands for the first-innings points in St Lucia.

T&T won the toss and their bowlers put on a strong show to reduce Windward Islands to 76 for 5. Then came the rally with Andre Fletcher digging in for 63 off 159 balls and offspinner Shane Shillingford eventually outscoring him with 64 off 161 balls. No. 10 Mervyn Matthew chipped in with 48 runs, including seven fours to drag Windward Islands to 306.

T&T had help from the lower order too - No. 10 Marlon Richards whacked 60 off 58 balls with five sixes - but their total of 382 was set up by No. 3 Yannic Cariah's 70 off 216 balls and middle-order batsman Yannick Ottley's 99 off 218 balls, with 12 fours. They took a lead of 76 runs, and the subsequent seven points that came with it. Left-arm fast bowler Kevin McClean took 4 for 66.

Windward Islands then batted out 81.4 overs and were at 189 for 8 when the match came to a close. It was a slow moving draw, with the run-rate less than three in all three innings Devon Smith made 56 off 186 balls at the top of the line-up and Shillingford again showed his capability to bat by spending 94 balls at the crease for his 34, which included 4 sixes.