Former West Indies U-19 left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie spun Guyana Jaguars to a nine-wicket win with a session to spare on the final day of their third round WICB PCL four-day match against the Barbados Pride at Providence yesterday to move to 53 points and maintain their lead in the six-team Franchise competition.
Set 40 to win their third successive game in the tournament after securing victories against the Windwards and Leewards, the Jaguars galloped to 43-1 from 7.4 overs to ensure there was no repeat of last year’s result when, needing just 69 to win the Jaguars catapulted to 67 all out.
The nine-wicket win was the exact result of the 1984 result when Guyana last beat Barbados on home soil at Bourda. Motie followed up his 3-19 with 6-79 for match figures of 9-98 to befuddle the batsmen on a pitch which had no devil in it and under clear blue sunny skies.
When the Jaguars lost the aggressive left-handed 18-year-old Shimron Hetymer (14) LBW to left-arm spinner Suleiman Benn at 23-1 the small gathering in Red Stand must have been thinking of the reincarnation of last year’s result at the same venue but Skipper Leon Johnson (20*) ended the contest in emphatic fashion with a four and six off Benn to extend the Jaguars’ unbeaten streak to 10 matches in PCL cricket.
Hetymer seemed in a hurry the cross the Berbice River Bridge to get to his home in Canje as he tucked the first ball of the run chase like a bullet to the mid-wicket boundary before on-driving Miguel Cummins for another boundary in an expensive first over that cost 10 runs.
Assad Fudadin (9*) danced into Benn, who opened the bowling and hit him just over the head of mid-on before dumping the spinner back over his head in another over which cost 10 runs and it was especially pleasing to see the positivity in Fudadin’s short innings.
Johnson got going with a boundary off Benn past mid-off that caught Tino Best napping and then dispatched Benn for another boundary in the over. The Captain then ended the match with a sweep for four before clearing the boundary.
Earlier, when play began 90 minutes late due to rain Barbados on 166-3 overnight, lost night watchman Cummins (6) caught at long-on after hitting Motie for a six off the previous ball to leave the visitors on 173-4.
Brooks, who tempered his natural aggression with responsible batting and good shot selection and along with Royston Chase, who was the more aggressive of the two, put together 49 for the fifth wicket before Brooks was LBW to Steven Jacobs at 222-5.
Brooks’ third half century included five fours and lasted 225 balls and 281 minutes before Kevin Stoute (6) fell to Motie 11 runs later to trigger the beginning of the end.
Hetymer then held a stupendous reflex catch at short-leg as Chase flicked a full toss from Jacobs after the 23-year-old had just posted his 8th fifty from 153 balls, 149 minutes with four fours and although Mario Rampersaud stayed around from 74 minutes and 52 balls in an unbeaten 16 nobody else offered fight as Motie who bowled 41.1 overs, wrapped up the innings.
Jacobs, who bowled 40 overs, supported Motie with 2-105 for the Jaguars, who after a week’s break, travels to T&T for their fourth round fixture from December 4.
(Taken from Kaieteur News)