MAGHERAMASON, Ireland (CMC):
A BOUNDARY-STUDDED, maiden List A 100 from Jewel Andrew failed to spur the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Academy as hosts Emerging Ireland took an unbeatable 2-0 lead in their three-match, One-day series with a nail-biting one-wicket win off the penultimate ball yesterday.
The 17-year-old Antiguan wicketkeeper-batsman raised his profile with a run-a-ball 143 after the CWI Academy were put in to bat and set Emerging Ireland 279 to win the 50 overs-a-side match at the Bready Cricket Club.
West Indies Under-19 pacer Johann Layne was the pick of the Caribbean side’s bowlers, taking three wickets – all in the final five overs – for 55 from his allotted 10 overs, leaving Emerging Ireland with one wicket standing and 11 required to win in the last six balls.
But CWI Academy captain Nyeem Young let his side down when he conceded 15 from the final over to Matthew Humphreys, not out on 39, including a six off the third ball and a six off the penultimate ball to concede victory to the Irish.
The Caribbean side had lost by six wickets on Tuesday at Eglinton in the first match of the series, and they will be hoping to finish the series strong on Friday at Bready before the two teams play a pair of four-day, first-class matches, starting on June 18 at North Down and on June 25 at Stormont.
CWI Academy were wobbling on 24 for two after Liam McCarthy bowled Ackeem Auguste for a second-ball duck in the second over and fellow opener Leonardo Julien for 18 in the sixth over.
Andrew slammed 12 fours and seven sixes from 141 balls and shared three half-century stands along the way that were the rocks upon which the Caribbean side built 278 for eight from their allocation of 50 overs.
Andrews added 73 for the third wicket with Teddy Bishop; 65 for the fifth wicket with fellow Leeward Islands Hurricanes prospect Carlon Bowen-Tuckett, son of former Leewards and West Indies all-rounder-turned-umpire Carl Tuckett; and 101 for the sixth wicket with Young.
The West Indies Under-19 gloveman reached his 100 from 114 balls and was the principal reason that the visitors added 123 during the second Power Play before he fell off the last ball of the penultimate over, trying to bring the innings to a flourishing close.
FIVE SIXES
Bishop made 19 before he was lbw to leg-spinner Gavin Hoey in the 19th over, Tuckett made 20 before he was run out in the 36th over, and Young hit five sixes in 54 off 46 balls before falling, with four balls remaining.
The CWI Academy bowlers kept Emerging Ireland to 37 for one in the first Power Play after Young bowled opener Jake Egan for 11 in the eighth over. The hosts were then 63 for two in the 15th over when Cade Carmichael was run out for 16.
The visitors met resistance when De Freitas, whose 84 off 108 balls was the top score, and Topping hit his second half-century of 53 off 73 balls, the two sharing exactly 100 for the third wicket to stabilise the Emerging Ireland chase.
Young got De Freitas in the 34th over and left-arm spinner Joshua Bishop bowled Scott MacBeth in the 40th over, leaving Emerging Ireland to get 94 in the final 10 overs.
The equation became more difficult when left-arm pacer Ramon Simmonds struck twice in three balls in the 45th over.
The match appeared to shift in favour of CWI Academy when Layne also struck twice in the 46th over, and again in the 48th over, leaving Emerging Ireland teetering on 240 for nine.
But the unthinkable happened when Simmonds pulled up lame and Andrew had to finish the over.
Andrew is more known for his wicketkeeping, rather than his bowling, and he conceded a four, a deuce, and a six to Humphreys off the three balls he bowled before the Emerging Ireland number 10 ushered his side over the finish line.
Young ended with two for 67 from 9.5 overs, and Simmonds had two for 50 from 9.3 overs before he broke down.
The series is part of a reciprocal agreement between Cricket Ireland and CWI after the Emerging Ireland squad visited the Caribbean in November last year.