The covers were on for most of the day at Providence as Round Three of the West Indies Championship began with a rainy start for the Guyana Harpy Eagles (GHE) and the West Indies Academy. Intermittent rains throughout the afternoon severely truncated Day 1 of their contest at the Guyana National Stadium, located in Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD).
Despite the weather, Jediah Blades made an impact by snaring three wickets. After hours of on-and-off rain, the skies cleared enough in the late afternoon for the toss, which was won by the hosts, GHE, who opted to bat first. In the absence of Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Raymond Perez and Matthew Nandu took charge of the opening partnership. However, it wasn’t long before Nandu was dismissed for just one run, having his stumps rattled by Blades’ pace.
Captain Tevin Imlach also struggled, contributing only four runs before falling victim to an lbw decision in the 11th over. Raymond Perez, who appeared to be settling in well, was Blades’ second wicket of the day, scoring 29 runs off 38 balls.
Kemol Savory and Kevlon Anderson then combined for a promising partnership that propelled the Harpy Eagles into the 70s before rain interrupted play once again. When play resumed, GHE faced another setback, losing Anderson for 22 runs off 31 deliveries. Another rain delay soon followed, leading to a premature end to the day’s play. At that point, the Harpy Eagles were 87-4 from 25.4 overs.
Day 2 is set to resume at 13:00h today, with Savory and Kevin Sinclair at the crease, unbeaten on 20 and 8 runs, respectively. Blades was the standout bowler for the Academy on Day 1, claiming 3 wickets for 15 runs from 7 overs, while Johann Layne recorded figures of 1-42 from 11 overs.
Currently, the Guyana Harpy Eagles sit second on the West Indies Championship points table, while the West Indies Academy is in eighth place. After Round 3, the Harpy Eagles will embark on their first away match of the 2025 season, heading to Sabina Park in Kingston to face the Jamaica Scorpions in Round 4.
