Volcanoes, Harpy Eagles locked in enthralling battle

ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC):

At the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, the Windward Islands Volcanoes and defending champions Guyana Harpy Eagles are locked in an intriguing contest at the half-way stage of their West Indies Championship opener.

The Harpy Eagles ended the day on 257 for nine, still trailing the Volcanoes by 29 runs on first innings.

In a match that swung back and forth all day, neither side was able to take advantage of promising positions, leaving the match in a deadlock.

The Volcanoes asserted themselves in the morning session, with medium pacer Gilon Tyson dismissing Matthew Nandu and Kevlon Anderson cheaply, to reduce their opponents to 19 for two.

Skipper Tevin Imlach looked good for 23 before being trapped lbw by Ryan John, as the Volcanoes piled on the pressure at 65 for three.

However, through the efforts of opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who made a fighting 70 off 179 balls, and Kemol Savory, who has so far top-scored with 77 from 153 balls, the Harpy Eagles recovered to a solid position of 164 for three.

At this stage they would have fancied their chances of gaining a healthy first-innings lead, but John removed Chanderpaul and Tyson had Keemo Paul caught behind for just one, to give the Volcanoes the edge at 169 for five.

Gudakesh Motie and Savory then added 47 crucial runs for the sixth wicket, which took the Harpy Eagles past the 200 mark and once again left the match in the balance.

But Motie’s dismissal for 19 sparked a lower-order collapse that saw the Harpy Eagles lose four wickets for 22 runs, to slump to 238 for nine.

Veteran Veerasammy Permaul’s unbeaten knock of 20 helped the Harpy Eagles close the deficit, but he has only the support of last man Raymond Perez, who is unbeaten on two, if they are to get the 30 additional runs needed to grab a lead.

Tyson has so far taken 4-64; Kenneth Dember, 3-48; and John, 2-52.