Five best performances from series 3 - West Indies Four-Day Championship

Regional cricket in the West Indies is back with a bang! Seven centuries and three five-wicket hauls made for entertaining action across the three matches in Trinidad & Tobago. 

Here are my five most impactful performances across the three matches:

Derval Green – 5-46 vs. Windward Islands

With three Jamaican bowlers taking five wickets in the match, the game played between the two bottom-of-the-table teams was a wickets fest at Tarouba. However, when you analyze each bowler's performance, I must give the nod to Derval Green. 

Not only was Green aggressive with his changes of pace making the most of the tinge of grass on the surface, the significance of the wickets he was able to take stood out to me, ripping through the Windward Islands’ top order when they began to put up some resistance in the second innings. He was able to remove the first three batsmen who contributed 114 of the 195 runs including the significant wicket of Kavem Hodge for 63 straight after lunch as they tried to save the game.

Kieran Powell – 139 & 83 vs. Trinidad

The man from Nevis continues to pile on the runs in the Four Day Championship and he could have easily ended the match with two hundreds being run out in the second innings. His hundred set the tone for the Leewards at a time when his team lost a couple of early wickets and were struggling on 98-3. Some may even argue that his 96-ball 83 was even more significant as it allowed the Leeward Islands to score quickly and post a mammoth 459 run target which would prove too daunting of a task for the Red Force. Powell continues to knock on the door of the West Indies selectors now being the second leading run-scorer in the tournament with 366 runs in six innings averaging 73. 

Gudakesh Motie – 110, 2-37 & 2-35 vs. Barbados

In the Guyana Harpy Eagles’ first innings, wickets began to tumble at 260-5 and when Motie walked to the crease, the Barbados Pride surely had thoughts of wrapping the innings up quickly but the 27-year-old had other ideas. With a well set Tagenarine Chanderpaul at the other end, Motie beat the Barbados bowling to a pulp smashing twelve fours and four maximums in a 143-run partnership which ultimately took the game away from the Pride. 

His strike rate of 93.22 allowed Guyana to score quickly but also wear down the fielders who had already spent two days in the sun. When he took up the ball in the second innings, he took the crucial wickets of Shai Hope who had already scored a century in the match as well as Jomel Warrican. Motie will need to continue his all-around brilliance if Guyana wants to be a serious contender for this year's title. 

Kraigg Brathwaite – 111 vs. Guyana 

The West Indies test skipper continued right where he left off in round two, scoring his second century of the tournament. After his team was forced to follow on, Brathwaite showed great resilience to ensure the Pride take the game deep trying to avoid defeat. His 242-ball effort made things tight in the end for Guyana helping Barbados set a target for the Guyanese after being asked to bat twice. Brathwaite's team was beaten and was disappointing, to say the least, however, he continues to dominate this year’s competition amassing 464 runs at an unbelievable average of 94 which will bring joy to WI fans with a packed year of cricket ahead. 

Tagenarine Chanderpaul - 140* & 23* vs. Barbados

When people think of dominance with the bat in hand, this performance may have to be at the top of the list. It is safe to say that the Barbados Pride threw everything they could at Tagenarine Chanderpaul but could not penetrate the forcefield he possessed. 

The mental fortitude displayed by Chanderpaul to bat for 434 balls in the first innings was the ideal knock for the Harpy Eagles who continued to take time out of the game piling the pressure on the Pride. This was an innings that reminded the world of Tage’s father Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who made sensational showings of focus and concentration similar to this look easy throughout his illustrious career. 

However, what impressed me the most about this knock was the external pressures he faced entering the second phase of the tournament. Tage entered this game only passing the 15-run mark twice in his last thirteen First-Class innings with many people in Guyana and across the region calling for him to be removed from the top of the order. With everything surrounding him, he was able to produce a masterclass of batsmanship and fittingly smashed the winning runs with an uncharacteristic knock of 23 from 10 deliveries in the second innings to defeat table leaders Barbados late on day four. If he can continue in this vein, the Windies selectors will have a serious decision to make when test cricket rolls around again later this year as to Kraigg Brathwaite’s next test opening partner.