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By Peter Della Penna in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Official Scorecard I Ball-by-Ball Commentary

West Indies U-19 opener John Campbell crossed 150 for the second time in as many games while Kyle Mayers notched the fourth century of the series for his side as they defeated USA U-19 by 220 runs on Duckworth-Lewis Method on Tuesday at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida.

USA won the toss and elected to field on another warm sunny day in south Florida. Kalim Ahmed, who flew down to Florida on Sunday night for what USACA General Manager Manaf Mohamed said was a training camp, was inserted into the starting XI along with Jodha Singh and Hammad Shahid in place of Trevor Singh, Shayan Abdulghani and Amarnauth Persaud from the lineup that played in Sunday’s game. West Indies also made three changes with Donovan Nelson, Justin Greaves and Sunil Ambris sitting out in place of Amir Khan and Kieron Joseph and Jerome Jones.

West Indies produced another century stand for the first wicket as captain Kraigg Brathwaite turned over the strike as often as possible to Campbell, who was swinging at virtually every ball he faced and connecting for runs at a brisk rate. He crossed 50 in only 22 balls, putting the USA bowling attack under immense pressure.

During the big opening stand, Campbell hit a Prashanth Nair delivery in the 12th over high in the air between Singh at long on and Ahmed at long off. The ball landed between them before the two players collided. Both men stayed down on the field for about five minutes before walking off under their own power and were taken to a local hospital where Ahmed received stitches in his lip and Singh got treatment for a facial injury before both players were released and came back to the stadium. Amarnauth Persaud and Trevor Singh then came on as substitute fielders.

In Nair’s next over, he managed to dismiss Brathwaite for 18 after the batsman pulled a full toss to Greg Sewdial at midwicket. At the fall of the wicket, some confusion arose as USA brought on Christopher van Tull, a player not in the 14-man squad, and had him put on the wicketkeeping gear in place of Steven Taylor who started the game in the designated position. After some discussions between the on field umpires and members of both management staffs, van Tull was allowed to keep wicket for USA for the duration of the innings. van Tull is registered as a player with the Guyanese-West Indian Association CC in the Garden State Cricket League (New Jersey).

Four overs later, Nair took his second wicket when Ramon Senior was caught for 3 slogging a full length delivery to Shahid on the midwicket boundary to make it 116 for 2. A short time later, Campbell pulled a short ball through midwicket to bring up his ton in 62 deliveries with 10 fours and three sixes while having only 17 dot balls in his innings to that point. Kavem Hodge was the next to go, run out for 16 by Taylor in the covers, who made an excellent stop before firing to van Tull behind the stumps as Hodge was just short trying to make his ground.

From there, Campbell and Kyle Mayers produced a century stand, but one that could have been nipped in the bud much earlier. In the 29th over bowled by Shahid, Campbell was on 115 when he tapped a delivery toward Taylor in the covers and set off for a tight run. Taylor attacked the ball, collected it from close range and then fired it past the stumps with Campbell a yard short of the crease. Two balls later, Mayers was on 19 when he mishit a drive that floated straight to Nair fielding at midwicket in the circle, but the left-arm spinner put down a simple chance and the two batsmen continued to take West Indies to another insurmountable total.

A short time later, lightning was detected and the players were taken off the field for the first of two weather delays with the score at 230 for 3 in 33.4 overs at which time the umpires called for the lunch break with Campbell on 134 and Mayers on 45. The two added another 32 runs to their stand after play resumed before Campbell holed out to Shahid at long on to give Salman Ahmad his first wicket in the match. Campbell finished with 152 in only 96 balls with 13 fours and five sixes. He only had 24 dot balls in his innings.

Mayers reached his century in 83 balls before getting out to Nair, caught by Mital Patel who made a great sliding catch coming in from long off for 107 with 11 fours and two sixes. Nair got his fourth four balls later when Joseph took a full delivery and hit it to another sub fielder not in the 14-man squad, Stephon Singh. Singh is registered with Windies CC in the Washington Metropolitan Cricket Board league.

Image (right) - Kyle Mayers takes off his hat and points his bat to the West Indies bench after reaching his century. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

Nair completed his five-wicket haul by getting Derone Davis to drive another catch to Patel to make it 351 for 7 in the 49th over. West Indies finished their innings at 368 for 7 in 50 overs. Nair finished with 5 for 57 in 10 overs, one of the few highlights for USA in this series.

In reply, USA’s opening partnership of 29 runs between Taylor and Cameron Mirza was the biggest partnership of the series for the team, another sign of gradual improvement. The stand ended when Taylor chipped an easy catch back to left-arm spinner Davis for 9. Persaud came out to bat next as the match turned into a field XI, bat XI contest on USA’s side.

A short time later in the 16th over with the score 30 for 1, the second weather delay took place when more lightning was detected near the stadium despite no rain and the players had to leave the field. When the match was restarted, eight overs were reduced and the target score went from 369 to 322. Persaud then became Davis’ second wicket when he spooned a catch to Ronsford Beaton at mid on for 7.

USA U-19 captain Sewdial joined Mirza and produced a dogged stand, fighting off the Windies spinners for as long as possible. Davis and leg-spinner Amir Khan bowled in tandem with an immaculate line and length as the batsmen became bogged down and had trouble rotating the strike. After Khan and Davis finished their spells, more spin came in the form of Brathwaite and Campbell.

Mirza’s long vigil at the crease ended in the 34th over for 34 runs when he tried to cut Brathwaite and sent a thick edge to Campbell at slip. Sewdial fell for 15 in similar fashion as Campbell pulled off a stunning catch to give Brathwaite two scalps. Pranay Suri was bowled behind his legs by Campbell for 9 with one over remaining. Abhijit Joshi played a few nice shots off the back foot to make his way to 17 not out as USA ended at 101 for 5 in 42 overs.