NORTH SOUND, Antigua--The Leeward Islands Hurricanes have registered six wins out of seven matches to remain entrenched on top of the table of Group A in the regional Super50 tournament which is being sponsored by the West Indies Cricket Board. The Hurricanes have already secured a semi-final spot with one more preliminary match to play.
Group A comprises the Hurricanes, Trinidad and Tobago Red Force, Kent Spitfire, West Indies U19 and Windward Islands Volcanoes. The Hurricanes have beaten Spitfire, West Indies U19 and Volcanoes twice but lost to the Red Force. The Northeastern Caribbean team will play its last preliminary match on February 12 against the Red Force.
Two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-final. The Red Force is the other team that has qualified from Group A. In Group B, Barbados Pride and Jamaica Scorpions have booked places in the semi-final.
The Hurricanes will play Scorpions and the Pride will do battle against the Red Force.
Captain of the Hurricanes, Keiran Powell has led the team from the front with both bat and his tactical skills. At present, he is the leading run scorer of the tournament with 509 runs at an outstanding average of 84.83. The talented left-handed batsman who had taken a self-imposed exile from cricket is making a thunderous comeback. He hit three consecutive centuries and also have two half centuries to show for a prolific return to the game. His best score to date is 135 against the Volcanoes.
A few other top performers for the Hurricanes are Powell's opening partner Montcin Hodge with 276 runs at an average of 46. He has a top score of 82 runs against the Spitfire. Vice-Captain of the Hurricanes, Rahkeem Cornwall completes the third batsman in his team who is in the top six of the run scoring chart. Cornwall has scored 220 runs at an average of 73.33. His best score is a match-winning 74 against the Volcanoes on Wednesday night.
Alzarri Joseph, the fast bowler from the Hurricanes is the joint leader in the bowling department. He along with Ashley Nurse from the Pride have collected 16 wickets each after seven and six matches respectively. Joseph who has a member of the winning West Indies U19 Youth World Cup team has been bowling very quickly in this tournament. His best figures are six for 31 against the West Indies U19.
Captain Powell whose team's form has been at the best in the last few years will be hoping to advance and win the final.
The tournament continues today with Red Force doing battle against the West Indies U19 from 9:30am and then the Volcanoes looking to outdo the Spitfires from 1:30pm.
