Samuels slams another ton

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (CMC):Marlon Samuels enhanced his chances of a recall to the West Indies side for future assignments, when he collected his third hundred for Jamaica in the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional Four-day Tournament first-class cricket championship against Leeward Islands yesterday.

The 30-year-old Samuels was undefeated on a chanceless 143 as Jamaica, choosing to bat, reached 332 for three in their first innings on the opening day of the fourth-round match at Warner Park.

Samuels has so far struck 15 fours and two sixes from 206 balls in just over four hours, to lead a consistent batting display down the order from the visitors.

Brendan Nash supported with 67 and Simon Jackson scored 61 in significant stands with Samuels, after Danza Hyatt made 44.

Samuels reached his milestone from 134 balls, when he pulled a short ball from Anthony Martin through midwicket for two. It followed scores of 13, 250 not out, 40, 20, 0 and 105 in his six previous innings in the competition.

He added 76 for the second wicket with Jackson and put on 163 for the third wicket with West Indies Test batsman Nash.

run out

Hyatt had given the Jamaicans the early impetus with seven fours and one six before he was run out in the final half-hour before lunch.

Jamaica were 102 for one at the interval and they continued to take a firm grip on the contest on resumption, when Samuels and Jackson filled their troughs.

Jackson, a former Combined Campuses & Colleges (CCC) captain, batted solidly to pass 50 before he was caught behind off medium-pace bowler Tonito Willett. He struck 11 fours and one six from 110 balls in a little over 2¹/² hours.

Nash joined Samuels and was fortunate when Leewards captain Steve Liburd dropped him at cover off leg-spinner Anthony Martin on 15. The left-hander shrugged off this setback and with Samuels consolidated for the Jamaicans, taking the visitors to 218 for two at tea.

After the break, Nash remained to reach his 50 and ushered Samuels past his landmark before Liburd compensated for his earlier miss, when he had him caught at short midwicket in the last half-hour before stumps were drawn. The Aussie-born batsman struck 10 fours from 140 balls in just under three hours.

Jamaica made one change to their line-up with former young West Indies fast bowler Jason Dawes replacing Jerome Taylor, who has returned home, following the death of his grandmother.

At the Arnos Vale Multi-Purpose Complex in St Vincent: Trinidad & Tobago, sent in to bat, reached 172 for five in their first innings at the close on the rain-affected opening day of their fourth-round match against Windward Islands yesterday.

Scores: TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 172 for five (Sherwin Ganga 72 not out, Denesh Ramdin 53).

At the Three Ws Oval in Barbados: England Lions, choosing to bat, reached 260 for four in their first innings at the close on the opening day of their fourth-round cricket match against the CCC yesterday.

Scores: ENGLAND LIONS 260 for four (Jimmy Adams 115 not out, Craig Kieswetter 45, Johnny Bairstow 34 not out, Andrew Gale 27, James Taylor 22; Ryan Austin 2-65, Kavesh Kantasingh 2-66).

At the Guyana National Stadium: Guyana, sent in to bat, reached 176 for three in their first innings when bad light stopped play 13 overs early on the rain-affected opening day of their fourth-round match against Barbados yesterday.

Scores: GUYANA 176 for three (Assad Fudadin 77 not out, Leon Johnson 51).

SCOREBOARD

JAMAICA 1st Innings

D. Hyatt run out (Tonge/Hamilton) 44S. Jackson c wkpr Hamilton b Willett 61M. Samuels not out 143B. Nash c Burton b Liburd 67T. Lambert not out 7Extras: (lb1, w1, nb8) 10TOTAL: (3 wkts, 92 overs) 332

W. Hinds, D. Bernard Jr, +C. Walton, O. Brown, A. Richardson, J. Dawes to bat

Fall of wickets: 1-79, 2-155, 3-318

Bowling: Baker 13-5-51-0; Tonge 16-2-56-0 (nb7); Willett 11-1-40-1 (w1); Martin 28-1-100-0; Taylor 15-0-60-0 (nb1); Liburd 9-2-24-1

LEEWARD ISLANDS: S. Jeffers, D. Tuitt, S. Burton,S. Liburd, G. Williams, T. Willett, +J. Hamilton, G. Tonge, J. Taylor, L. Baker, A. Martin

Toss: Jamaica

First-class debut: J. Taylor, D. Tuitt (Leewards)

Umpires: W. Mitchum, P. Nero

Match referee: V. Burnes

Reserve umpire: T. Texeira.