Sinclair seals Harpy Eagles’ sixth title, Johnson bows out in glory

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):

A DESTRUCTIVE spell from Kevin Sinclair triggered a Leeward Islands Hurricanes batting collapse and enabled Guyana Harpy Eagles to snatch an unexpected 17-run win in the West Indies Championship yesterday, to claim the Headley-Weekes Trophy, a symbol of supremacy in the tournament.

The off-spinner bagged six for 33 from 16.5 overs, while long-serving left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul supported with three for 44 from 15 overs to bowl out the Hurricanes for 125 in their second innings, close to an hour after the start on the final day of their fifth-round match at the Guyana National Stadium.

Chasing 143 to win, Hurricanes started the day on 81 for one and they looked set to pull off a heist on 96 for one, but Sinclair struck twice in the span of three balls in the fourth over of the day, removing Keacy Carty for 21 and Devon Thomas for a second ball duck to trigger the slide.

The visitors lost their last nine wickets for 29 in the space of 74 balls, with discarded left-handed West Indies opener Kieron Powell propping them up with a top score of 61.

Sinclair formalised the result when he trapped Javier Spencer lbw for a duck, playing back and swinging across in the fourth over of the day to spark wild celebrations on the field by the Harpy Eagles and their support staff.

Harpy Eagles earned 15.8 points from the match and ended with 84 for the season, enabling them to give their captain Leon Johnson a fitting send-off into retirement with the sixth West Indies Championship title in the Professional Cricket League era (2014-15 onwards) under his leadership.

Sinclair got Carty and Thomas with lbw verdicts before Hurricanes passed 100 before trapping Karima Gore lbw after they passed the three figures to tighten the screws. In the middle of that, Permaul bowled their captain Jahmar Hamilton for a duck.

Permaul dealt the big blow to the chances of the Hurricanes when he got Powell caught at slip, playing defensively forward with the first ball of his 13th over, and the Harpy Eagles ensured there were no heroics from the lower order.

Hurricanes earned only 4.8 points from the match and ended the season fifth on 46.2.