A bold maiden first-class century by Joshua Bishop propelled the West Indies Academy to 409 all out on the second day of their four-day match at Coolidge Cricket Ground on Sunday
Bishop, better known for his left-arm spin bowling, entered at Number 8 and took to the Irish bowling with some aplomb. He smacked nine fours and eight sixes to finish unbeaten on 102 — the top score as West Indies Academy amassed 409. This gave them a first-innings lead of 196.
On a pitch that the WI Academy call home and are familiar with, Teddy Bishop agonizingly fell 10 runs short of a maiden first-class century, while Kevlon Anderson made 79 and Johann Layne added his first first-class half-century, scoring 56 runs. Mike Frost was the pick of the Irish bowlers, finishing with figures of 17-2-89-4 followed by Matthew Foster with 23-6-81-3.
With a big lead, skipper Nyeem Young took control of the new ball and dealt a severe dent in the Emerging Ireland batting in their second innings, close to the end of Day 2.
He removed James McCollum and Cade Carmichael, trapping them LBW for eight and two respectively, while Ashmead Nedd spun a web in the fading light to have the first innings lead scorer Murray Commins caught for two.
Century-maker, Joshua Bishop was elated with his knock saying
“I was just really enjoying myself because Teddy (Bishop) and (Kevlon) Anderson paved the form for us to get in the first innings and then for us to push on to get a big lead. I was just looking to back myself and execute out in the middle. Getting early wickets this evening put us in a good position and once we come back tomorrow we just have to focus on getting the remaining wickets within the lead we have.”
Needing a further 167 runs for victory with seven wickets remaining, Young and his men will be searching early when play resumes on Monday — Day 3 at 10am (9am Jamaica time) at the Coolidge Cricket Ground.
Fans can stream all the action on the Windies Cricket YouTube page.