CRICKET-LEAD Harpy Eagles begin title defense with win, Scorpions shock Pride.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The Guyana Harpy Eagles began their title defense in the 2026 West Indies Championship in winning fashion with a four-wicket win over the Windward Islands Volcanoes here on Wednesday.

Skipper Tevin Imlach and Matthew Nandu both struck half-centuries to help their side secure the victory.

Elsewhere, Jamaica Scorpions pulled off a shocking comeback to defeat Barbados Pride by seven wickets, with opener Kirk McKenzie scoring an unbeaten century to lead his side’s impressive run chase on the final day.

At the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, Tevin Imlach played a captain’s knock, leading from the front to ensure the Guyana Harpy Eagles got past the Windward Islands Volcanoes by four wickets.

Imlach scored a crucial 82, and together with Matthew Nandu, who made 58, set the platform for the Harpy Eagles’ successful run chase of 233 for six in 78.4 overs.

Resuming the day on 38 for one, with Imlach on 27, the visitors would have been favorites to get the 194 more runs required for victory.

Through the efforts of Imlach and Nandu, the Harpy Eagles strengthened their position with the pair putting on a further 100 runs to help their side dominate the morning session.

Imlach looked set to reach a century before pacer Ryan John broke the partnership by trapping him lbw to bring an end to his innings that spanned 147 balls and included 11 boundaries.

Nandu’s patient innings that saw him face 182 balls and contained six boundaries came to an end soon after when medium pacer Kenneth Dember had him caught to leave the score 155 for three.

The Harpy Eagles suffered a slight scare when they lost Kemol Savory, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, and Keemo Paul fairly cheaply. Still, bowling hero Gudakesh Motie came to their rescue with a counterattacking, unbeaten 23 off just 13 balls, sealing the deal.

John (2-48) and Dember (2-75) were the best bowlers for the Volcanoes.

At Chedwin Park in Jamaica, the Jamaica Scorpions pulled off one of the most memorable victories in recent memory to upset last year’s runners-up, Barbados Pride, by seven wickets.

The Pride, who resumed the day on 255 for five, looked to have batted the Scorpions out of the game when they declared their innings on 317 for eight, setting their opponents a victory target of 324 runs to complete an unlikely victory.

But in a stunning turn of events, openers Kirk McKenzie and John Campbell both slammed centuries to spearhead an improbable run chase, with the Scorpions reaching 326 for three.

Their spectacular performances overshadowed Kevin Wickham’s historic accomplishment earlier in the day.

Wickham, who scored 153 in the first innings, ended unbeaten on 108 in the Pride’s second innings to become just the third Barbadian in the modern era to score centuries in both innings of a first-class match, joining Ryan Hinds and his current captain, Kraigg Brathwaite.

His 155-ball innings, containing eight fours and three sixes, looked to have given his side an outside chance of pushing for a win on Wednesday’s final day.

However, it was not to be, as Campbell and McKenzie had other ideas.

Scorpions’ captain Campbell was the more aggressive of the two, striking 11 fours and six sixes in his knock of 126 that came off just 158 balls.

The duo added 242 runs for the first wicket at almost five runs an over to give their side the perfect launching pad.

And when Campbell was dismissed for a brilliant 126, McKenzie took up the responsibility of guiding his team to a monumental win.

The Scorpions lost the wicket of Odean Smith, who was promoted up the order, cheaply for three, and Carlos Brown for 21, but McKenzie was there at the end, finishing on 135 not out off 180 balls, which included 13 fours and two sixes.

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