Senior players prosper amid batting slumps and par scores

TAROUBA, Trinidad – Johnson Charles and Sunil Ambris gathered half-centuries to help power Windward Islands Volcanoes to a decisive 97-run victory over winless Combined Colleges in Zone A of the Super50 Cup here late Wednesday.

Sent in at Brian Lara Stadium, Volcanoes racked up 277 all out in the final over, Charles top-scoring with 89 from 87 balls and Ambris belting 69 from 57 deliveries.

Justin Greaves weighed in with 46 from 53 balls at number six while Kavem Hodge struck a measured 34 from 55 deliveries higher up the order.

In reply, captain Denesh Ramdin propped up the run chase with an unbeaten 82 off 107 balls but he was only one of two batsmen to pass 20 – the other being number 10 Romario Greaves with 32 – as CCC crawled to 180 for nine off their 50 overs.

Hodge was the trump card with his left-arm spin, claiming four for 15 from his 10 overs while seamer Danel Cyrus (2-25) and another left-arm spinner Larry Edward (2-29) chipped in with two wickets apiece.

While Volcanoes broke a two-game losing skid with the result, the loss was CCC’s fourth in five outings leaving them bottom of the zone on two points.

Alick Athanaze, with back-to-back hundreds already in the tournament continued his mini slump when he failed to score, caught at the wicket by Ramdin off the fourth ball of the game from seamer Matthew Forde (3-33).

Two partnerships then got the innings firing. First, Charles put on 125 for the second wicket with Hodge, belting eight fours and five sixes to dominate the partnership.

When three wickets tumbled for 31 runs, Ambris took up the mantle, stroking three fours and three sixes in a 90-run, fifth wicket stand with Greaves who counted two fours in his knock.

Hodge then ripped through the CCC top order, claiming four for the first eight wickets to fall, as CCC crashed to 62 for eight at the end of the 26th over.

Ramdin, who struck five fours and a six, added 68 for the ninth wicket with Greaves and a further 50 for the last wicket with Abhijai Mansingh (21 not out), but both partnerships proved in vain.

Meanwhile, at North Sound in Antigua, captain Jahmar Hamilton struck a scintillating run-a-ball fifty as unbeaten Leeward Islands Hurricanes opened up a clear lead in Zone B of the Super50 Cup, with a four-wicket win over West Indies Academy.

With his side stumbling at 94 for five in the 24th over, in pursuit of 212 for victory at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground on Wednesday night, Hamilton arrived to lash 91 not out with 10 fours and three sixes and get them over the line.

He found an ally in West Indies all-rounder Hayden Walsh (26), the pair adding 81 for the sixth wicket to frustrate a hopeful Academy. Hamilton put on a further 38 in an unbroken seventh wicket stand with Kofi James (10 not out).

Hurricanes ensured their target would be a straightforward one when they bundled the Academy out for 211 in the 48th over, 24-year-old off-spinner Kofi James grabbing four for 39 to lead the attack and new-ball seamer Sheno Berridge picking up two for 18.

The innings lay in ruins at 90 for seven in the 24th over before number nine Joshua James counter-attacked in a courageous 73 from 77 balls, putting on an invaluable 78 for the eighth wicket with Ackeem Auguste who made 44 from 53 balls.

Keagan Simmonds – who fell to the first ball of the match – along with Teddy Bishop, were early casualties leaving the Academy on 19 for two in the seventh over.

Opener Leonardo Julien struck a stylish 27 with four fours to repair the damage in a 37-run, third wicket stand with Kevin Wickham (18) but once that partnership was broken, the Academy lost a bunch of wickets quickly – five going down for 34 runs in the space of 63 deliveries.

It was then left to James – better known for his fast bowling – to plunder two fours and five sixes and propel his side past the 200-run mark.

In reply, Ross Powell gloved a leg-side catch behind off seamer Kelvin Pitman in the second over without scoring but Keacy Carty, who made 34 from 43 balls with four fours, put on 44 for the second wicket with Kieran Powell (18) to stabilise the innings.

A cluster of wickets – four perishing for 44 runs – led to the arrival of Hamilton and he took control of the game with his first significant score of the tournament.

Hurricanes top the zone with 14 points, six clear of second placed Jamaica Scorpions. (CMC)