In a see-saw encounter at the 3Ws Oval, the pendulum has finally swung in the Combined Campuses and Colleges’ (CCC) favour.
Having been on the back foot for the majority of their fourth-round contest in the WICB’s Regional 4-Day match against the Leeward Islands, the CCC batsmen turned in a solid performance to set up an intriguing final day’s play today.
Trailing the Leewards by 63 runs on first innings, CCC finished the day on 333 for six, a lead of 270.
With a declaration expected early in the morning, what will be even more worrying for the Leewards is that opener Montcin Hodge may not be able to bat in their second innings.
Hodge was struck on the left hand at silly point in the day’s opening session. He was initially thought to have a broken hand, but after medical treatment was diagnosed with soft tissue damage and his hand put in a sling.
It was a day in which the CCC batsmen dominated, with Anthony Alleyne, Raymon Reifer and Chadwick Walton recording half-centuries, while Floyd Reifer fell two runs short of a similar achievement.
Alleyne fashioned a patient 71 from 263 balls in over four and a half hours at the crease, while Reifer fell 15 runs short of a deserved hundred.
Later in the day, Walton smashed an unbeaten 74 from 94 balls laced with seven fours and three sixes after Floyd Reifer had been dismissed for 48.
Resuming the day on 73 for two, with Alleyne on 34 and Raymon Reifer on 17, the pair continued from where they had left off the previous afternoon with sensible and responsible batting.
They nudged the ball around the ground for singles and twos and dispatched the bad deliveries to the boundary, taking CCC to a strong position of 134 at the lunch break, with Alleyne unbeaten on 64 and Reifer on 47.
Reifer was lucky not to have been caught behind by wicketkeeper Devon Thomas shortly after the break and two runs shy of his half-century, but Thomas couldn’t hold on to the difficult chance off the bowling of Martin.
Their 113-run partnership was eventually broken when Alleyne missed an attempted pull off Martin and was adjudged LBW.
In came Floyd, and the two cousins engaged in a stroke-filled 47-run partnership before Raymon shouldered arms to Martin and was adjudged LBW, to leave the score 195-4.
Another century stand, 100 to be exact, followed between Walton and Reifer until the latter played all around a delivery from medium pacer Tonito Willett and was also out LBW.
A late assault from Walton and Akeem Dewar, who made 20 from 21 balls, pushed CCC to their highest total of the tournament to date, and high hopes of achieving their first win in the competition this season.
