SAGICOR UWI duly claimed first innings honours over Super Centre Spartan yesterday but their top-of-the-table LIME Elite Division clash was delicately poised on the second day after a fightback by the visitors.
Front-runners UWI achieved a lead of 47, due in large measure to captain Omar Phillips’ 98 before Spartan staged a revival with both bat and ball to set the stage for an intriguing finish today.
Resuming on 98 for three in response to Spartan’s 153, UWI were dismissed for 190, a total they would not have been contented with after reaching 172 for five when Phillips and fellow left-hander Liam Sebastian were adding 68 for the sixth wicket.
UWI lost their way badly, suffering a collapse against 18-year-old leg-spinner Amir Thomas, whose five-wicket haul led to a decline in which the hosts’ last five wickets fell for 18 runs.
Joint second-placed Spartan continued their comeback in the final session by reaching 123 for two at stumps, giving them an overall lead of 76.
Opener Rashidi Boucher followed up his 74 in the first innings with a polished 48 before gifting his hand to deep-wicket off off-spinner Ryan Austin, who had earlier struck with his first ball when he bowled Akeem Springer after an opening stand of 34.
New captain Shamarh Brooks, who added 57 for the second wicket with Boucher, finished unbeaten on 42, having benefited from a sharp slip chance to Phillips when he was 25.
At the start of the day, Spartan pegged back UWI after pacer Jeremy Marshall claimed a double strike, but Phillips and Sebastian tilted the balance back in the leaders’ favour.
Phillips batted with a fair measure of comfort for close to three and a half hours and faced 196 balls, but lost patience when he missed a big drive against Thomas two shy of a century.
Thomas, who finished with five for 39 off 12.5 overs, also removed Nhamo Winn and Marques Clarke for ducks, while Marshall, who took four for 35 in 15 overs, struck a key blow by bowling Sebastian for a solid 43 to ensure UWI did not pick up any batting points.
