CAVE HILL, Barbados, CMC – Nkrumah Bonner and Ryan Austin shared four wickets to lead a fight-back for Combined Campuses & Colleges, after Windward Islands collected first innings points in the WICB Regional first-class championship yesterday.
Leg-spinner Bonner captured two wickets for 14 runs from five overs, and off-spinner Austin took two for 52 from 15 overs, as Windward Islands, replying to CCC’s first innings total of 131, reached 145 for seven at the close on the opening day of their first round match at the Three Ws Oval.
Keddy Lesporis has so far hit the top score of 41 for Windwards, Andre Fletcher has supported with 30, and Johnson Charles made 28.
Windwards had started the match brilliantly, when they won the toss, chose to field, and dismissed CCC about 25 minutes before tea.
Bonner led the way for CCC with 27, and Floyd Reifer got 24, but no other CCC batsman passed 20.
Liam Sebastien, leading the Windwards in the absence of West Indies captain Darren Sammy, was the most successful bowler for the visitors, with three for 17 from 7.5 overs.
Kenroy Peters took two for 21 from 11 overs, and Kerron Cottoy bagged two for 30 from 10 overs.
Windwards then suffered an early setback, when Tyrone Theophile was caught at second slip off Kevin McClean for three.
Fletcher joined Charles, and batted with enterprise to add 50 for the second wicket with his fellow Grenadian before Kavesh Kantasingh bowled him, essaying a pull.
After his dismissal, there was little stability from the rest of the batting, with Austin having Charles caught at backward short leg, and Sebastien was bowled for 17 to leave Windwards 106 for four. Lesporis and Linden James then stemmed the fall of wickets with a stand of 30 for the fifth wicket before they both perished, as three wickets fell for nine runs in the space of 45 balls.
Earlier, CCC went to lunch in trouble on 73 for five, and never really recovered from their shaky start.
They were 49 for one at one stage before three wickets fell on the same total in the space of 12 deliveries to plunge them into early desperation.
Reifer drawing on his years of experience, and Bonner tried to repair the damage with a stand of 38 for the sixth wicket, but the CCC lost their last five scalps for 20 runs in 75 balls.
CCC are seeking to avoid their third straight defeat on home soil against the Windwards.
