BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Lennox Cush became the first bowler in the history of official Twenty20 cricket to take two hat-tricks to set-up a four-wicket victory for Guyana over Combined Campuses & College in the Caribbean T20 Championship yesterday.
Cush removed Barrington Yearwood, Ryan Wiggins, and Ruel Brathwaite in successive deliveries in the final over and finished with four wickets for 30 from his allotted four overs as CCC were restricted to 142 for nine from their allocation of 20 overs.
Guyana stumbled to 90 for five in the 14th over before Christopher Barnwell scored 21 and Jonathan Foo 23 not out to limp Guyana over the finish line with four balls to spare in the seventhmatch of the competition.
The victory was the second for Guyana, and meant that they have become the third side to virtually guarantee themselves a place in the semi-finals this coming Friday, after the competition switches to Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.
Cush had Yearwood caught at backward square leg for seven, Wiggins caught at long-on for seven, and Brathwaite caught at the same position for a duck.
The part-time off-spinner had taken a hat-trick against Jamaica in the 2008 tournament where Guyana went down to the Jamaicans by one run in their Stanford Twenty20 semi-final clash.
Floyd Reifer endured a painful left knee to hit the top score of 49 from 31 balls, which included four fours and two sixes, and Miles Bascombe made 36 from 29 balls.
Bascombe shared 42 with Romel Currency for the first wicket before he was caught at mid-wicket off Davendra Bishoo to leave Windwards 48 for two in the eighth over.
Reifer put on 44 for the fourth wicket with Nekoli Parris for the fourth wicket to put the CCC back on track.
After he was run out in the 18th over to leave CCC 123 for five, the home team failed to gain any momentum in the closing overs, and Cush entered his name into the history books.
Several Guyanese batsmen got starts, but no one carried on. Their captain Ramnaresh Sarwan made the top score of 29, Sewnarine Chattergoon got 25, Jonathan Foo was not out on 23, and Christopher Barnwell, named Man-of-the-Match, hit 21.
The Guyanese were setback early, when Travis Dowlin was caught at mid-on off Guyana-born fast bowler Gilford Moore for one in the first over.
Sarwan joined Chatter-goon and consolidated for Guyana with a stand of 55 for the second wicket before they ran into trouble on 90 for five.
Barnwell added a vital 36 in the space of four overs with Foo for the sixth wicket to get Guyana back on course for victory before he was caught at mid-off off Brathwaite to leave his side needing 17 from the final 13 balls.
Guyana meet Barbados in the final Group-B match next Thursday from 4 p.m. at Queen’s Park Oval, where the CCC will face Windwards four hours later.
