Kieswetter gets century as England Lions dominate
Craig Kieswetter scored his fifth first-class century as England Lions piled on a huge total against Leeward Islands at the Warner Park in St Kitts. Leewards fought back in the second half of the second day, with Kieran Powell's 83 helping them reach 148 for 2 at stumps. Kieswetter, who hasn't been a part of the England team since the Twenty20 series against Pakistan in September last year, got his unbeaten 116 off 102 balls, as the Lions reached 553 for 6 before declaring. James Hildreth missed his 150 by one run while James Taylor fell four short of a century. James Harris became the fifth England batsman to go past 50 in the innings, getting an unbeaten 52 in a 146-run seventh-wicket stand with Kieswetter. Seamer Jade Dernbach gave the Lions an early breakthrough, dismissing Montcin Hodge for a duck in the third over. Leewards recovered, but will need plenty more from their batsmen to get a positive result from the game.
The match between Combined Campuses and Colleges and Windward Islands at the Three Ws Oval in Bridgetown looks set for a tight finish on the third day, after CCC ended the second day 173 ahead with one wicket in hand. In what has been a low-scoring match, Windwards added 29 to their overnight score of 145 for 7, giving them a 43-run first innings lead. CCC started their second innings well, with Kyle Corbin's 57 helping them reach 180 for 3. However, they then collapsed, losing six wickets for 36 runs and ended the day at 216 for 9. Left-arm spinner Gary Mathurin was Windwards most successful bowler, taking 3 for 27.
Half-centuries from Kirk Edwards, Ryan Hinds and Sharmarh Brooks took Barbados to 395 in their first innings, against Trinidad & Tobago at the Guaracara Park in Trinidad. Edwards, who was on 75 at the start of the day, fell seven short of his century, while the captain, Hinds, scored 94. Brooks had to bat with the tail and scored 61 not out, putting together a crucial ninth-wicket stand of 63 runs with Tino Best. T&T; had to face 15 overs at the end of the day, and finished 55 for 1, with Runako Morton getting 45 of those runs.
Jamaica mad a strong comeback on the second day at the Alpart Sports Club in St Elizabeth, finishing 95 runs ahead of Guyana with eight wickets in hand. The hosts had been bowled out for 150 on the first day, but responded by dismissing Guyana for 183 on the second. They then reached 128 for 2 by stumps, thanks to an unbeaten half-century by Marlon Samuels. Guyana lost wickets in clusters during their innings. First they went from 75 for 2 to 81 for 5, then, after a mini-recovery, went from 129 for 5 to 148 for 8. Jamaica's spinners did the bulk of the damage, with legspinner Odean Brown taking 3 for 57, and offspinner Tamar Lambert taking 3 for 7.