Ja, Windwards showdown

Ingram (left) and Simpson (right)

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CANA:

AFTER TWO days of well earned rest, the regional Under-19 cricketers return to the field of play today for the penultimate round of matches in the 2001 West Indies Under-19 cricket tournament.

The competition took a dramatic twist in the third round with the Leeward Islands halting Barbados' progress with an outright win at the Wales Community Centre ground.

That surprise win took the Leewards' points tally to 24, the same as Trinidad and Tobago who gained first innings points from the Windward Islands at the Diamond Community Centre, and Jamaica who took first innings points from hosts Guyana at Bourda.

The Barbadians, who led after two rounds, remain on 20 points with Guyana lying fifth on 16 and title-holders Windward Islands in the cellar position on 12.

Giant killers Leewards will oppose Trinidad and Tobago at the Enmore Community Centre in what is probably the key fixture in today's fourth round while Jamaica take on the Windwards at LBI and Guyana and Barbados battle at the Uitvlugt Community Centre.

The Jamaicans, who started the tournament disastrously by losing outright to Barbados at Enmore, have since bounced back into contention with an outright win versus the Leewards at Uitvlugt and first innings honours over Guyana at Bourda.

Despite losing opener and captain Donovan Pagon to the first ball of their innings at Bourda, the Jamaicans displayed depth in their batting by scoring 270 with Danza Hyatt and Lorenzo Ingram hitting half-centuries.

Pagon, who heads the overall batting aggregate with 264 runs, returned to slam a half-century in the second innings.

Off-spinner Wayne Simpson, with 15 wickets to his credit, and left-armer Lorenzo Ingram, could pose problems for the Windwards, whose batting has been inconsistent to date.

After his heroics against Guyana when he hit a defiant 83 in his team's second innings, the left-handed Sergio Fedee failed to get off the mark in both innings against Trinidad and Tobago.

Opener Gavin Roberts and all-rounder Darren Sammy scored well for the Windwards and Sammy also had a five-wicket haul in the Trinidadian first innings.

Skipper Alston Bobb, who took 12 wickets in the first match, has only had five in the other two while Shane Shillingford, has not shown his usual potency.

Soundly beaten by Jamaica early on the third day of their second round fixture at Uitvlugt, the Leewards rebounded to inflict a seven-wicket victory over Barbados at Wales in a low-scoring encounter.

The heroes for the Leewards were their bowlers ­ pacers Gavin Tonge and Calvin Williams and off-spinners Chaka Hodge and Larry Joseph.

There is still a question mark over the Leewards' batting, shown when they failed to get a big first innings lead after dismissing Barbados for a meagre 112.

Austin Richards has looked the most accomplished of the Leewards batsmen but has so far failed to build on his starts.

Trinidad and Tobago could be considered the most consistent team in the tournament to date, gaining first innings points in all three rounds.

Had they shown some more adventure ­ pressing for victory ­ in the first and second rounds against Guyana and Barbados respectively, they probably could have been the sole leaders entering the fourth round.

Arch-rivals Guyana and Barbados, who square off at the Uitvlugt, will both be aiming to remain worthwhile contenders.

Barbados started out with a bang, outright victors over Jamaica at Enmore but have since lost on first innings to Trinidad and Tobago and beaten by the Leewards at Wales, while Guyana's best performance to date has been their first innings lead over the Windwards at Enmore.

Guyana's ploy to send in the opposition in all three matches to date has not paid the dividends expected despite the first innings lead over the Windwards.

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