Rising Stars graduates happy with maiden tons
Rising Stars graduates happy with maiden tons
Kimani Melius and Matthew Nandu are happy to have reached triple figure and both young openers are looking to kick on to bigger things in the upcoming matches of the West Indies Championship four-day first-class season.
Nandu, the 19-year-old lefthander made the first ton on the season a composed 126 for Guyana Harpy Eagles against Barbados Pride on Thursday. It was just his first knock at this level and held the innings together. He faced 331 balls and batted over to seven hours before he was eighth batsman dismissed.
Melius meanwhile was dominant for Windward Islands Volcanoes against Trinidad & Tobago Red Force at the Grenada national Stadium. The tall upright stroke-maker made 192 off 269 balls to put the home team in strong second innings position. His career-best score is the highest by a St Lucian in first-class cricket, according to records, surpassing the previous best of 185 by Julian Charles in 1985.
Like Nandu, Melius is a recent member of the West Indies Rising Stars teams. Melius was captain at the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa in 2020, while Nandu was part of the team when Cricket West Indies hosted the event a year ago.
Melius spoke about the work he put in ahead of the season and how it led to his improved performances.
“I put in a lot of work before we came here and that has been one of the main reasons I believe I played well. The hard work has paid off but there is more hard work to put in and more to come.”
He added:
“I have to continue to work hard and trust in my ability, and make the starts count. At the start I was a bit nervous, I know I needed a big score, as I had never scored a century at this level before. I t was at the back of my mind, to first get to 50 and them take in increments of 10 … to 60 … to 70 … and continue to build.”
Nandu said:
“I’m happy with my knock, it felt really good to get a century in my first knock for Guyana at this level. To play well and do the job for the team in the first goal and I felt I did that really well. I just want to take it day by day, game by game and see how I continue to develop and as opportunities come up, I want to take them with both hands.”