Steve Massiah played one of the most brilliant all-round games in West Indies youth cricket yesterday at the Petrotrin ground in Penal, when he almost single-handedly dismissed the Leeward Islands team and outscored them all.
The enormous 168-run win that resulted kept the defending champs in the hunt for a place in the final.
Massiah scored 80 not out out of 219 for Guyana before lunch and then took eight of the ten Leewards wickets to send them crashing to 51 all out.
Massiah's game was as sparkling as the sunshine.
With the second ball of his first over, he sent Shane Jeffers back to the stands after he was easily caught by Narsingh Deonarine at mid-wicket playing a lazy shot.
Five overs and 22 runs later, Massiah struck again when Branko Payne offered another simple catch to Avinash Sharananda. And next man Omari Banks faced just one ball before he was leaving the crease, caught by Pooran.
With the score a grim-looking 29 for three in the seventh over, skipper Sylvester Joseph, who appeared the Leewards's only real hope, skied a shot off the top edge, again off the bowling of Massiah. The ball spent an eternity in the air and Pooran could have crawled and still have had time to gather the ball comfortably. The catch sent Joseph to meet his men, with the highest score of 17 to his credit.
The first non-Massiah wicket fell to left-arm spinner Hemnarine Harrinarine who bowled Anwar Prince, the batsman seemingly uncertain about how to deal with the change of pace. It was now 34 for five in the ninth over.
And by the time Harrinarine broke the Massiah spell again with his second wicket to leave the Leewards one wicket away from defeat, the score was still just 48. And the innings was one hour and eight minutes old when tailender St Clair Challenger also proved unequal to the Massiah challenge.
Off the third ball of the 16th over, Challenger took a wild, desperate swing which just caught the inside edge and the wicketkeeper casually gloved the ball right-handed to end the match.
Massiah, with figures of 8 for 25 in seven overs and his unbeaten 80, was undoubtedly the hero of the game. And he felt like one.
``It was a dream performance for me,'' he said, beaming. ``I never took eight wickets in a game before and I have to thank my teammates for their support because without them, I could not achieve it.''