Sensational recovery

 Fiery Russell rallies Jamaica to inspirational Twenty20 win over Guyana

NORTH SOUND, Antigua (CMC):

A career-best spell from André Russell helped to undermine reigning champions Guyana and inspired Jamaica to a sensational, come-from-behind 50-run victory in a low-scoring match, on the opening day of the Caribbean Twenty20 Championship on Monday night.

Russell collected three wickets for eight runs from three overs and ran out Guyana captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, as the reigning champions were dismissed for a meagre 65 in 17.3 overs, in reply to Jamaica's modest 116 for seven off 20 overs, in the second match of the competition at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground (VRCG).

Double figures

No Guyana batsman passed 20 as Travis Dowlin with 14 and Royston Crandon with 11 were the only two batsmen to reach double figures.

Krishmar Santokie ended with the flattering figures of two for nine from 2.3 overs and David Bernard Jr collected two for 17 from three overs and held two catches to complete a tidy all-round performance that earned him the Man-of-the-Match award.

Marlon Samuels had stroked four boundaries in the top score of 42 from 48 balls for the Jamaicans, after they were sent in to bat.

Bernard made 22 and shared 32 for the second wicket with Samuels in the largest stand of the innings, before the Jamaicans faded badly in the second half of their innings.

Royston Crandon was the most successful Guyana bowler with three for 21 from his allotment of four overs.

Typically, Guyana failed to get a brisk start from Dowlin and left-handed opening partner Sewnarine Chattergoon when they started the chase.

Santokie bowled Chattergoon for three in the fourth over and Russell tilted the balance when Sarwan failed to beat his direct hit from mid-on and was run out for a six-ball duck, to leave Guyana 14 on for two in the fifth over.

But the match was over as a genuine contest when Dowlin, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Christopher Barnwell were all dismissed for six runs in the space of 21 balls, as the Guyanese plunged to 29 for five in the 10th over.

Earlier, Jamaica too, suffered an early setback when Xavier Marshall was caught at slip off Esuan Crandon for two in the second over.

Samuels joined Bernard and they got the Jamaicans moving with a steady, if not spectacular stand, running well between the wickets and striking boundaries in-between when the chance presented itself.

Bernard was bowled in the eighth over when he charged Permaul and missed a slog. But the innings was transformed after Danza Hyatt was caught at backward point for 13 in the 13th over.

No other batsman could adequately increase the tempo, and the innings went into terminal decline.

Jamaica face Combined Campuses & Colleges (CCC) in their second match today at the same venue, where Guyana meet English county champions Somerset.

JAMAICA (maximum 20 overs)

X. Marshall c Chanderpaul b E. Crandon 2D. Bernard b Permaul 22M. Samuels run out (Bishoo) 42D. Hyatt c wkpr Christian b R. Crandon 13A. Russell st Christian b Bishoo 0W. Hinds not out 11+C. Baugh c Chanderpaul b R. Crandon 1J. Taylor lbw b R. Crandon 0N. Miller not out 19Extras (lb3, w2) 5TOTAL (7 wkts, 20 overs) 115

O. Brown, K. Santokie did not bat

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-39, 3-67, 4-71, 5-85, 6-86, 7-87

Bowling: Chattergoon 4-0-22-0, E. Crandon 4-0-19-1, Permaul 4-0-24-1, R. Crandon 4-0-21-3, Bishoo 4-0-26-1

GUYANA (target: 116 off 20 overs)

T. Dowlin c wkpr Baugh b Bernard 14S. Chattergoon b Santokie 3R. Sarwan run out (Russell) 0S. Chanderpaul run out (Santokie) 5R. Crandon b Russell 11C. Barnwell c Hinds b Brown 1E. Crandon c Bernard b Russell 6J. Foo b Bernard 4+D. Christian not out 8D. Bishoo c Bernard b Russell 7V. Permaul st Baugh b Santokie 0Extras (lb3, w3) 6TOTAL (all out, 17.3 overs) 65

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-14, 3-23, 4-26, 5-29, 6-42, 7-47, 8-49, 9-59

Bowling: Taylor 3-0-11-0, Santokie 2.3-1-9-2, Miller 4-0-8-0, Bernard 3-0-17-2, Brown 2-0-9-1, Russell 3-0-8-3

Result: Jamaica won by 50 runs

Points: Jamaica 2, Guyana 0

Toss: Guyana

Man-of-the-Match: Dave Bernard Jr

Umpires: B. Doctrove, L. Kelly

TV umpire: G. Brathwaite

Match referee: A. Griffith

Reserve umpire: J. Wilson