Leeward Islands lose on second day after bizarre declaration in West Indies Regional 4-day tournament

Leeward Island's tactical declaration backfires as Devon Smith's side won comfortably

A tactical declaration and an improved second innings performance couldn’t stop Leeward Islands from slumping to their third defeat of the season in the WICB Professional Cricket League Regional 4 Day Tournament match against Windward Islands at Windsor Park, Dominica, reports ESPN Cricinfo.

After declaring on 24 for 7 yesterday, Leeward Islands needed quick wickets on day two to ensure no further damage was done. While they did manage that, they could only managed 170 in their second innings, leaving the hosts a mere 55 to win, which they knocked off in 10.2 overs.

Alzarri Joseph, who was playing in only his fourth first-class match ended up with figures of 7 for 46, the best figures of the tournament so far. The 19-year-old’s spell before lunch ensured that Windward Islands only added 36 more runs to their overnight total of 104 for 5.

Opener Tyrone Theophile top-scored for the hosts with 62, but was the first to be dismissed on day two as was leg before to Joseph with the score at 117. The tail-enders didn’t offer too much resistance as the last four wickets fell fore just 23 runs.

Although the hosts were bundled out for 140, their lead of 116 was still a massive one on a pitch that was offering plenty of assistance to the bowlers. Although the visitors lost opener Sherwin Peters early, three of the top four managed to get into double digits, after combining for just three runs in the first innings.

Nkrumah Bonner, who finished as the game’s top-scorer with 64, scored his third-half century in as many matches to give Leeward Islands some hope. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find any support and once he was out with the score on 145, the game looked to be beyond the visitors.

When the innings finally ended on 170, Windward Islands had the easy task of knocking off 55 to seal victory. They did so in fine style, with opener Theophile guiding them to a win inside 11 overs.

Only 128 overs were bowled in the entire match in which 29 wickets fell. The game which finished inside two days was the fourth-shortest completed first-class game in the West Indies, where a minimum of three innings were played.

Scorecard:

Leeward Islands 1st innings: 24/7 dec

Windward Islands 1st innings:

DS Smith	7 (14)
T Theophile	62 (85)
MC Bascombe	1 (3)
J Charles	0 (1)
SW Ambris	3 (3)
ADS Fletcher †	31 (46)
LAS Sebastien	12 (24)
M Matthew	10 (14)
ABW Bobb	3* (11)
KR McClean	0 (1)
KK Peters	8 (5)
Total	140

Bowling:

	Overs	Runs	Wickets
GC Tonge	11	49	1
AS Joseph	12	46	7
RRS Cornwall	7.4	28	2
SP Peters	4	16	0

Leeward Islands 2nd innings:

SP Peters	2 (15)
SM Jeffers	30 (68)
DA Cruickshank	22 (36)
NE Bonner	64 (125)
O Peters	6 (24)
SSW Liburd	0 (15)
RRS Cornwall	16 (39)
RJ Peters †	5 (16)
JDC Taylor	4 (15)
GC Tonge	15* (14)
AS Joseph	6 (13)
Total	170

Bowling:

	Overs	Runs	Wickets
M Matthew	9	23	1
KR McClean	2	5	0
KK Peters	10	18	0
LAS Sebastien	23	76	5
ABW Bobb	20.4	48	4

Windward Islands 2nd innings:

DS Smith	0 (9)
T Theophile	13* (20)
MC Bascombe	18 (11)
J Charles	21* (21)
Total	56/2

Bowling:

	Overs	Runs	Wickets
GC Tonge	3	14	0
AS Joseph	2	16	1
RRS Cornwall	3	12	1
JDC Taylor	2.2	10	0