By Samuel Peters
The opening day of the youth cricket encounter between the Leeward Islands and Jamaica at Sion Hill Playing Field was marked by challenging conditions and a flurry of wickets. Delayed by rain and a wet outfield, the match saw 13 wickets fall for just 95 runs in a mere 37 overs of play.
Jamaica, winning the toss, elected to field first – a decision that paid dividends.
They dismissed the Leeward Islands for a modest 80 runs in 29 overs.
Devanand Singh top-scored with 18, while Michael Palmer (14), Is-rael Morton (13), and Jewel Andrew (12) made brief contributions.
Jamaica’s bowlers exploited the conditions expertly, with Michael Clerk leading the attack with figures of 4-22.
He received strong support from Reon Edwards (3-27) and Deshawn James (2-19).
In response, Jamaica’s innings got off to a rocky start.
By stumps, they had lost three quick wickets for just 15 runs.
Michael Palmer, continuing his all-round performance, claimed two wickets, while Nathan Edward picked up the third.
With Jamaica trailing by 65 runs and seven wickets in hand, the match was delicately poised but rain had its say for the second day in a row with another late start. Up until 3pm on Thursday, Jamaica had secured the first innings points with the score at 82 for seven.
