Kevlon Anderson struck a patient century to give the West Indies Academy a strong foundation on the opening day of the second first-class match against Emerging Ireland, closing the day on 300/8 at the Coolidge Cricket Ground.

Sent into bat first, the Academy had a slow start to their innings, Ackeem Auguste once again failing to fire, dismissed for 2. Matthew Nandu and Teddy Bishop started the rebuild with a wall of defense against the Irish bowling. Bishop faced 63 deliveries for his 16 runs but fell in the over before lunch. Nandu looked set to reach fifty but after a painstakingly cautious 116 balls, he was caught for 35.

In came Kevlon Anderson who, together with the Kevin Wickham looked to get the scoreboard ticking over. Wickam smashed 4 fours before he was bowled by Michael Frost for 17. Anderson was joined by skipper Nyeem Young and the pair saw the Academy to the post-tea period. Both batsmen rotated the strike at a faster rate than the pre-lunch session and reached their fifties soon after. It was a maiden first-class fifty for Young, who smashed five sixes and seven fours on his way to 80 before Frost had him caught, he shared in a 100-run partnership with Anderson. The swashbuckling first match centurion Joshua Bishop had a 14-ball 22 which included a pair of sixes and fours.

Anderson reached his second first-class hundred to finish the day unbeaten on 101. West Indies Academy closed on 300/8. Tom Mayes was the pick of the bowlers for Emerging Ireland with figures of 21-3-62-3, followed by Michael Frost with 25-3-71-2 and Matthew Foster with 23.4-6-90-2.

Play resumes at 10am (9am Jamaica time) on Sunday. Fans can stream all the action on the Windies Cricket YouTube.