Windwards fight back after Austin eight-wicket haul

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Compatriots Mervin Matthew and Liam Sebastien led a spirited Windward Islands fight-back, after a career-best spell from Ryan Austin bowled Combined Campuses & Colleges into a favourable position in the Regional Four-Day Championship yesterday. Matthew ended with two for 10 from eight overs and Sebastien finished with two for 24 from 14 overs, as CCC reached 66 for four in their second innings at the close on the second day of the sixth round match for an overall lead of 134.The two Dominicans failed to devalue Austin’s impact however, as the lanky off-spinner extracted turn and bounce from the hard, true Arnos Vale Multiplex pitch to grab eight for 64 from 29 overs and send the home team crashing to 157 all out to give CCC a first innings lead of 68. Austin, a former Barbados tweaker, now has 298 career wickets in the Regional tournament and is set to become the third bowler behind Mahendra Nagamootoo, and injured Windwards and West Indies off-spinner Shane Shillingford to capture 300.