da pinnacle： Cricinfo takes a look at the matches from Round 1 of the 2008-09 Regional Four Day Competition
da esport bet： Cricinfo staff13-Jan-2009
Devon Smith was involved in four half-century stands during his 212 © DigicelCricket.com/Brooks La Touche Photography
Devon Smith’s 212 proved too much for Guyana, who were demolished by an innings and 147 runs by Windward Islands in St George’s in the WICB regional four-day competition. Guyana captain Travis Dowlin’s plan to bat first backfired when Shane Shillingford accounted for the middle order and triggered a batting collapse to 172. Smith then piled on the misery for the visitors and was involved in three successive half-century stands – 50 for the third wicket with Liam Sebastien, 95 with Darren Sammy and 86 with his captain Rawl Lewis – to put the game out of Guyana’s reach. His fourth fifty-plus stand was an unbeaten 67 for the eighth wicket with Shillingford as Windwards declared on 414 for 9. It was another sorry display from the Guyana batsmen in their second innings; they folded for 95 on the third day. Deighton Butler was the wrecker-in-chief, picking up 5 for 29, while Shillingford grabbed 3 for 11 to finish with seven for the match.Smith, last represented West Indies in the second Test against Australia in May last year, said he was making a big effort to return to the side for the home series against England starting next month. “I have had two months of really hard preparation, doing a lot of running and batting and I feel I am now much more mature and confident as a batsman,” he told . “I don’t think I have made the best of my opportunities at the Test level because I think I put myself under pressure to always perform to keep my place in the team and maybe tried too hard.”I now realise how important the mental side of cricket is and I am now more relaxed and enjoying my cricket. Once you do the basics, concentrate, have patience and pick your shots you should make lots of runs. As you get older I think you learn these things.”Smith, 27, has played 24 Tests and 26 ODIs for West Indies.Gavin Wallace’s second-innings bowling display of 8 for 20 gave him a match haul of 11 wickets and handed Jamaica a six-wicket win against Leeward Islands in Basseterre. Omari Banks’ 108 was the only highlight of Leeward’ first innings after Runako Morton chose to bat. Odean Brown, who bagged 5 for 82, and Wallace looked to have done well to keep the hosts to below 300, but Anthony Martin’s spin had Jamaica floundering during their reply. And it was largely due to Donovan Pagon’s 62 that they managed to crawl to 227. With Kieran Powell’s 53 in the second innings, it looked like Leewards would build on the advantage, but Wallace’s magical spell on the third day meant the hosts crumbled to 91 all out. The 162-run target was always going to be easy from then on, and Jamaica grabbed 12 points with a day to spare.In the only game that went the full four days, Dale Richards hit his third first-class hundred to deny Trinidad & Tobago a victory against Barbados in Weymouth. Set 278 for victory, Richards made 113 to carry the hosts to 197 for 4 in their second innings. Barbados failed to grab the initiative after shooting out T&T for 264 in the first innings, with Darren Bravo (97) and Darren Ganga (56) providing the anchor roles. Ryan Hinds was the most successful bowler for Barbados, removing the bottom order quickly with 4 for 50. However, apart from Richards who scored 65, the hosts surrendered tamely for 199 during their reply. Sherwin Ganga and Amit Jaggernauth ripped through the batting order. Ganga picked up a five-wicket haul and Jaggernauth finished with 4 for 64. Fifties from Adrian Barath and Lendl Simmons then lifted the visitors to 212 for 3 in their second innings before they declared half an hour before lunch. Twin strikes from Dave Mohammed came too late and could only ensure six points for T&T by virtue of their first-innings lead, and Barbados pocketed three points.
