NORTH SOUND – Alcindo Holder curbed his natural attacking instincts to stroke 44 not out, and steered Barbados to a tense, four-wicket victory against Leeward Islands in the Caribbean Twenty20 Championship in Antigua last night.
In a low-scoring affair, Holder struck just three fours and one six in his 45-ball innings, as Barbados successfully chased a modest 113 for victory from their allocation of 20 overs in the rain-affected fourth match of the competition at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.
Barbados, last year’s runners-up, were wobbling on 70 for six in the 15th over before Holder, the Man-of-the-Match, added 46 – unbroken – for the seventh wicket with Ashley Nurse, whose hook for four off a short, rising ball from Gavin Tonge formalised the result with just four balls to spare.
The Leewards’ innings followed a similar pattern, and they needed 34 from Justin Athanaze and 31 not out from Tonito Willett to reach 112 for six from their 20 overs, after they chose to bat on a typically docile pitch.
Dwayne Smith gave Barbados a rousing start with three boundaries in 13 from the first and only over delivered by Lionel Baker. He drove the first two deliveries inside-out over square cover for fours, and drove the third ball through mid-on for another four.
Things started to unravel for Barbados in the next over however, when Kirk Edwards was run out for a duck following a mix-up with Smith. (CMC)
