By Neto Baptiste
Leeward Islands Hurricanes all-rounder Rahkeem Cornwall has credited hard work and determination for his impressive start in the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Professional Championships.
The West Indies player grabbed a total of 10 wickets and scored a total of 114 runs with 85 of those runs coming in the second innings as Hurricanes played to a draw with the Jamaica Scorpions here at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG).
“I’ve been putting in the work in St Kitts because I was in St Kitts for a while preparing with the team and I was feeling good going into the game. I think the conditions at Coolidge suited my style of bowling and I just put the balls in the right areas and try to be as consistent as possible and the wickets came my way. I’ve added a little bit more to my bowling and I think my bowling is in a good place at the moment,” he said.
The Antiguan cricketer claimed five for 41 in 31 overs in the second innings, bowling 16 maidens in the process, but Scorpions managed to bat out the final day, ending on 200 for nine from 82.4 overs, still some 67 runs behind the Hurricanes.
The Liberta Blackhawks player had earlier claimed five for 54 in 28 overs with 10 maidens as Hurricanes bowled out Scorpions for 234 in 82.4 overs in their first innings.
Cornwall, who is hoping for improved performances with the bat, is equally looking forward to the team’s next match against Trinidad & Tobago Red Force.
“Being an all-rounder, you need the two parts of the discipline to be head to head, so getting some runs with wickets are always important in terms of keeping yourself in the loop. This is just a start so I will see what’s coming Wednesday [vs Trinidad and Tobago] and then I can set my game plan to what the conditions are and try to come out in the second game and keep the performance up,” the player said.
The clash between Hurricanes and Red Force bowls off at 10am on Wednesday at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, while Jamaica Scorpions and Barbados Pride clash at the Coolidge Cricket Ground.