Smith sets new first class record, passes 13000 runs in draw
BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – Ageless Devon Smith smashed the record for the most runs in a single first class season as he stroked his sixth hundred of the Regional Four-Day Championship, to help earn Windward Islands Volcanoes a draw against Leeward Islands Hurricanes here Sunday.
Tasked with batting the entire last day of the day/night final round match at Warner Park, Volcanoes ended on 342 for one in their second innings after resuming on 28 for one, denying Hurricanes any chance of a win.
Left-hander Smith chalked up an unbeaten 152 while opener Tyrone Theophile struck 160 not out, the pair setting a new West Indies first class record for the second wicket of 323.
Significantly, Smith ended the season with 1 096 runs to eclipse the previous record of 1 068 set by Guyanese left-hander Narsingh Deonarine in the 2008/09 season.
With the performance, Smith became only the fourth batsman to score in excess of 1 000 runs in a season – joining Deonarine, Runako Morton (1 010) and Floyd Reifer (1 002).
Beginning the day on nine, the 36-year-old Smith faced 289 deliveries in just over 5-1/4 hours at the crease all told, and struck 15 fours.
The hundred was the 35th of this first class career and 29th in regional competition, and it pushed him past 13 000 runs in first class cricket.
Last season, Smith scored 611 runs to be one of seven batsmen with 600 runs in the competition.
Theophile, meanwhile, notched his fourth first class hundred to pass 3 000 career runs. Resuming on 10, he counted 16 fours and three sixes in an innings spanning 288 balls and 5-3/4 hours.
The draw ensured Hurricanes finished third while Volcanoes ended fifth.
Volcanoes were dismissed cheaply for 197 in their first innings with Smith falling for a first-ball ‘duck’, and conceded a 208-run lead after Hurricanes piled up 405 for nine declared in reply.