The Barbados Nation
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It's Guyana's Glory In Red Stripe Bowl

by Haydn Gill
19 October 1998



The agony of playing second fiddle in the preceding two finals was transformed into the euphoria of a comprehensive Red Stripe Bowl title success for Guyana yesterday.

Even before Mahendra Nagamootoo accepted the match-winning catch on the deep backward-square boundary, scores of excited spectators at the Kaiser Sports Club invaded the field to celebrate Guyana's emphatic victory by 52 runs over dethroned champions Leeward Islands.

It was a record-equalling sixth regional limited-overs title for Guyana and it came on the heels of their defeats in the 1996 final against Trinidad and Tobago and their 30-run loss to the Leewards in last season's final.

Moments after captain Carl Hooper accepted the sparking crystal Bowl, he and his men indulged themselves in sipping the beer which carries the name of the sponsors.

``I'm very happy that we have won,'' Hooper said after Guyana, defending a total of 226, had dismissed their opponents for 174 in the 46th over.

``I thought again today we slipped a little bit in the end, but it was good to come through and win the game.''

In front of a bank holiday crowd of about 5 000 in Discovery Bay on the Jamaica north coast, Guyana would have been sadly disappointed with their final total after a wonderful century opening stand between Clayton Lambert and Andrew Gonsalves.

But their quartet of spinners admirably defended it, to the extent that the Leewards needed 85 runs from the last 10 overs.

The containment was so tight that when the Leewards tried to free themselves, the last seven wickets fell for 41 runs.

Unheralded Lennox Cush, a tall 23-year-old who appeared in only one preliminary match, got Guyana's defence off the mark in impressive style by diving to his left to haul in a stupendous catch at backward-square that accounted for the feared Leewards captain Stuart Williams in the third over.

And when Hooper summoned him at a critical juncture to bowl his off-breaks, he did so with immaculate control and collected four scalps for 37 runs.

Each of the other three Guyana spinners made a telling impression after the Leewards posted 61 from the first 15 overs.

Mahendra Nagamootoo, brought on after 21 overs with Wilden Cornwall and Runako Morton making measured progress in a second-wicket stand of 78, delivered flat, fast leg-spin which the batsmen found hard to get away and his 10 overs went for only 25.

At the opposite end, Hooper's off-breaks were just as efficient and it was he who broke the most promising partnership when Cornwall was bowled attempting to cut.

Only 21 runs were eked out for the next 10 overs and Morton, two short of a half-century, was well caught by Nagamootoo, swooping around the mid-wicket boundary.

By the time a shower stopped play for 10 minutes, the Leewards' asking rate was 7.28.

On resumption, their challenge never escalated. Even though little wicket-keeper Sheik Mohammed muffed three stumpings in quick succession, that made no difference to the outcome.

For the second straight match, Guyana, who won the toss under cloudy skies, badly lost their way when their two principal batsmen were in and once again the innings could not pick back up momentum.

But while it was Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Carl Hooper who provided them with the basis of their total against Barbados, it was the openers Lambert and Gonsalves who gave the early impetus with a partnership of 108 in 22.4 overs.

The left-handed Lambert despatched the day's first ball over cover for four and added seven more boundaries, including three powerful ones off Hamesh Anthony before he was the first of three run-out victims.

Gonsalves, a 20-year-old known for his attacking style, made 41 with a few well-executed strokes off the back foot. His careless approach to the non-striker's end, however cost him his wicket, a victim of Williams' direct throw from 15 yards away.

Guyana had Nicholas deGroot and Keith Semple for the Nos. 3 and 3 slots, but with the luxury of their fine start - 126 runs made by the half-way stage - Hooper and Chanderpaul filled the breach with the hope of capitalising.

The illustrious West Indies pair added 39 in 8.5 overs with some degree of restraint and both were seemingly set when Williams summoned Curtly Ambrose for a second spell.

Chanderpaul tried to clout his first ball over mid-wicket, but ended up skying a catch to Morton running in from the cover boundary, while Hooper went to a fine return catch by Hamesh Anthony.

In the end, however, it didn't matter to Guyana.


Source: The Barbados Nation
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