Miller, Brown spin Jamaica to impressive win

Jermaine Lannaman, Sunday Gleaner Writer

It took Jamaica approximately half-an-hour after lunch on the third day to wrap up their Regional Four-Day Tournament clash against the Leeward Islands at Sabina Park yesterday.

The team, which was winning their third match in a row, won the match by an innings and 201 runs and were led to victory by in-form left-arm spinner Nikita Miller, who claimed five for 16 and leg-spinner Odean Brown, who took four for 32.

The duo bowled out the Leewards for 99 in their second innings after they were asked to follow-on at the start of the morning having being dismissed for 104 in their first innings at the end of Friday's second day.

Jamaica had earlier made 404 for eight declared in their first innings with man-of-the-match Donovan Pagon topscoring with 155, David Bernard Jr getting 70, and captain Tamar Lambert, 51.

'We batted very well'

"I think we batted very well in the first innings to put a total of 404, which is a good total in first-class cricket, and which really set up the game for us," said a beaming Lambert.

"We also knew that once we had put the runs on the table our bowlers would have come and backed us up, and thanks to Miller and Brown, we were able to get the job done early."

The Leewards, who were losing their third match in a row and in similar manner, knew that they had to pull off something special to take the game into day four, however, again led by faulty stroke play and a general lack of experience they were taken out with ease.

Leading their charge was elegant left-hand opener, Kieran Powell, who amidst wickets tumbling around him, held his calm before he was second-to-last man out for 55.

The 21-year-old, who made his debut for the West Indies last year and has so far represented the West Indies in four Tests and five one-day internationals, hit seven fours, a couple of which were hit straight with timing and elegance.

The next best scorer was Monticin Hodge, who made 15, and shared in a 39-run stand with Powell.

No other batsman passed double figures, while there was a total of five ducks during the innings with captain Gavin Williams and Jamaican-born all-rounder, Jahmar Hamilton, making a pair in the match.

Brown, who claimed a fantastic five for six in the first innings, ended the game with nine for 38, while Miller, who claimed a ten-wicket haul in the second game against Barbados, finished with match figures of seven for 27.

"It's now three down and three to go in the preliminaries and the aim is to just try and improve with each game we play, as, as we said at the start of the season our mission is to become the first team to ever win the tournament five times in a row," said Lambert.

Leewards coach, Stuart Williams, puts it down to a lack of experience as the reason for his team's poor start to the season.

"It is really a work in progress as this Leeward Islands team is a very young team. For example Powell is 21 and he is primarily our main batsman.

"However, we are going to keep fighting and keep trying, and hopefully the longer the season progresses the better we will get."

Jamaica will depart the country on Tuesday en route to Dominica where they will next play Guyana.

SCOREBOARD

JAMAICA 1st Innings 404 for eight decl.

LEEWARDS 1st Innings 104

LEEWARDS 1st Innings (following on)

Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-56, 3-57, 4-69, 5-70, 6-73, 7-89, 8-89, 9-99, 10-99.

Bowling: Richardson 6-0-22-0, Cotterell 4-1-19-1, Bernard 4-2-3-0, Brown 17-4-32-4, Miller 14.4-6-16-5.

Result: Jamaica won by an innings and 201 runs.

Points: Jamaica 12, Leewards 0.