KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC) – Their bowlers set things up, and their batsmen, led by Wavell Hinds and Xavier Marshall, propelled Jamaica to an emphatic eight-wicket victory over struggling Guyana yesterday in the Carib Beer Series.

Hinds hit an unbeaten 50 and Marshall was not out on 48, as Jamaica, chasing 109 for victory, reached their target about half-hour prior to the schedule close on the third day of their third round match at Sabina Park.

The Jamaicans had dismissed Guyana for 177 in their second innings just prior to tea with spin bowler Odean Brown and fast bowler Jermaine Lawson starring with the ball.

Brown collected three wickets for 35 runs from 16 overs, and Lawson snared three for 61 off 17.4 overs.

Leon Johnson offered the greatest resistance from the Guyana batting with a top score of 73.

The victory lifted Jamaica into sole leadership of the Championship with a maximum 36 points from three matches, following wins over Leeward Islands and the Combined Campuses & Colleges.

The defeat was the third straight for the weak Guyana side and left them rooted to the bottom of the table along with the Windward Islands on no points.

Jamaica got off to a shaky start, losing Donovan Pagon caught at mid-off off Esaun Crandon for four, and Tamar Lambert caught behind off Trevon Garraway for one to leave the home team on 11 for two.

Opener Marshall and former captain Hinds, two West Indies discards, put their heads down and guided Jamaica to their third straight, three-day victory in the competition in a stand of 98 – unbroken – for the third wicket literally matching each other stroke for stroke.

Hinds swept Zaheer Mohammed to the long-leg boundary to reach his half-century, but the younger Marshall had the privilege of striking the winning runs, a six off Narsingh Deonarine.

Earlier, Guyana, resuming on 59 for one, wobbled to 116 for five at lunch before they were dismissed even before the tea break arrived.

Assad Fudadin was run-out for 31 to end his second-wicket stand with Johnson worth 70. This triggered a collapse that saw the cream of the Guyana batting all fall cheaply – Narsingh Deonarine caught in the deep off Nikita Miller for 14, Ramnaresh Sarwan lbw to David Bernard Jr for a duck, and Travis Dowlin run-out for 10.

With the three most decorated batsmen on the Guyana team out of the way, the bottom half of the Guyana batting offered only token resistance.

The Championship takes a break for the next five weeks to allow the second Stanford 20/20 Cup to be contested in Antigua.

When it resumes with the fourth round of matches, Jamaica travel to Port-of-Spain to face Trinidad & Tobago at Queen’s Park Oval, but Guyana have drawn a bye.