Jamaica defeats Guyana

(CMC) Jamaica reeled off their fourth consecutive victory in the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional Four-Day Tournament, beating Guyana by eight wickets inside the last session on the final day of their fourth-round day-night fixture at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground last night.

The win gave Jamaica their fourth maximum taking, as they extended their lead while moving top with 48 points.

Jamaica declared at their overnight score of 454 for nine, with middle-order batsman Brendan Nash finishing on an unbeaten 205 not out, which earned him the Man of the Match award.

Guyana, which scored 294 in their opening knock and trailed by 160 runs on first innings, made the defending champions work hard for the win, as they battled bravely to 156 for six in their second innings at tea, with Assad Fudadin proving to be a thorn in the side of the Jamaicans, as he went in unbeaten on 37. Leon Johnson, 37, Narsingh Deonarine, 21, and Derwin Christian, 20, were the other major contributors to Guyana’s total at team time.

However, the Jamaicans made light work of their opponents when play resumed and took the remaining wickets cheaply to dismiss Guyana for a second-innings total of 187, which left them needing a mere 28 runs for victory.

Jamaica started disastrously, losing their first wicket without a run on the board when Danza Hyatt was sent back for a first-ball duck by lanky fast bowler Brandon Bess.

The champions suffered another setback at 12 when Donovan Pagon went leg before wicket to leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo for seven.

However, Brenton Parchment and Nash ensured there were no further hiccups until Parchment formalised the result by driving Bishoo straight for four.