Jamaica and West Indian opener Chris Gayle salutes the crowd at Alpart after completing his double century against the Leeward islands yesterday. Gayle made 219. -Junior Dowie
Tony Becca
, Contributing Editor
CHRISTOPHER GAYLE, the big left-hander who hits the ball with awesome power, hammered the Leeward Islands for a magnificent double-century at Alpart yesterday and left Jamaica in a wonderful position from which to win the match.
At stumps on the third and penultimate day of the four-day contest, the scoreboard read: Jamaica 200 and 394 for three declared, the Leeward Islands 190 and 76 for one and despite the injury to captain and offspinner Gareth Breese, with all of today to come, with a minimum of 90 overs to be bowled, Jamaica must fancy their chances of winning the match and pocketing the 12 points they need to finish second in the preliminary round and to play at home in the semi-finals of the International Challenge Trophy.
Although a few deliveries kept low yesterday and it could turn out to be ideal for spin bowlers, the pitch, however, is still in fairly good condition. The Leewards' Wilden Cornwall and captain Sylvester Joseph, 42 and 20 not out respectively, are batting well, Tonito Willett is good, Carl Tuckett and Ridley Jacobs are dangerous customers and with 329 needed for victory and remembering that they piled up 718 for seven against Kenya, even though the odds are against them, the Leeward Islands are not out of it.
FIRST TIME THIS SEASON
With Jamaica stepping past 300 for the first time this season and then marching to their highest total, Maurice Kepple, Donovan Pagon and Tamar Lambert all batted well.
Kepple, resuming on 47 at 158 without loss, ticked off his third half-century this season before he was leg before wicket to pacer Adam Sanford for 58 at 188 for one, Pagon scored a solid 27 before he nicked medium-pacer Cornwall to wicketkeeper Jacobs at 280 for two, and Lambert, in an innings during which he stroked six fours and hit a six over long-off off Sanford, scored 60 not out off 86 deliveries.
The man who thrilled the fans, however, was Gayle who smashed 31 fours and one six while scoring 219 in 396 minutes off 272 deliveries before, looking bored and probably tired, he went on to the front foot against pacer Dane Weston, tapped a catch to Ian Tittle at mid-wicket and walked away at 358 for three with Jamaica in full command.
On Friday, Gayle scored 103 off 96 deliveries while smashing 16 fours and the only six of the innings, yesterday he scored 116 off 176 deliveries while hitting 15 fours and not one six, and that suggests that he was not as brilliant.
In making his fourth first-class double-century, however, in becoming only the third batsman, after Guyana's Roy Fredericks and Barbados' Desmond Haynes, to score two double-centuries since the start of the regional competition in 1966 and the first Jamaican to do so, the bat of Jamaica's top batsman was just as broad.
Although Gayle did not pull and hook, certainly not as often as he did on the second day when he was in full flow, he again cut and drove off the back foot with relish and such was his power, such was his dominance of the Leeward Islands' bowlers that when Tittle held on to the simple catch that dismissed him just 15 short of Maurice Foster's Jamaica record of 234 against Trinidad and Tobago at Jarrett Park in 1977, Weston let loose a shout of triumph and ran around the pitch shaking the hands of his colleagues.
Left with 26 overs to the end of the day, the Leeward Islands lost Codville Rogers for nine at 29 for one in the seventh over when the left-hander drove at fast bowler Daren Powell and Lambert took a low catch at mid-on.
With Cornwall reeling off drive after drive against Powell and
his fast-bowling colleague Andrew Richardson and then welcoming medium-pacer
David Bernard Jnr. with a glorious drive to the cover boundary and with Joseph
hitting the first delivery from Breese over mid-wicket for six, from there until
bad light stopped play with four overs to go, it was all the Leeward Islands.
Jamaica first innings 200
Leewards first innings 190
Jamaica second innings
(Resumed at 158-0)
C. Gayle c Tittle b Weston 219
M. Kepple lbw Sandford 58
D. Pagon c Jacobs b Cornwall 27
T. Lambert not out 60
K. Hibbert not out 6
Extras (b2, lb7, nb13, w2) 24
TOTAL (for three wkts - 100 overs) 394
Fall: 1-188, 2-280, 3-358
Bowling: Sanford 27-6-94-1 (1w); Weston 12-0-66-1 (9nb,
1w); Tonge
15-0-54-0; Cornwall 15-0-56-1 (3nb), Hodge 24-1-92-0; Willett
7-2-23-0 (1nb).
Leeward Islands second innings
W. Cornwall not out 42
C. Rogers c Lambert b Powell 9
S. Joseph not out 20
EXTRAS (lb2, nb3) 5
TOTAL (for one wkt - 22 overs) 76
Fall: 1-29.
Bowling: Powell 5-1-24-1 (1nb), Richard-son 5-1-17-0 (2nb),
Breese 6-1-20-0,
Bernard 4-2-9-0, Brown 2-1-4-0.
