A MATCH that had the potential to produce a thrilling finish meandered into a meaningless draw largely because of the defensive tactics of both Barbados and Jamaica yesterday.
Had Jamaica batted with a lot more enterprise in the first session, they might have been able to declare early in the post-lunch period on the final day of their third-round WICB regional match at Kensington Oval.
They were restrained in some way by Barbados’ similarly defensive methods, which included deep set fields, an occasional outside the off stump operation by the seamers and leg stump concentration by the spinners.
Jamaica started the day on 114 for two with an overall lead of 116, and a scoring rate of a run-a-minute would have taken them to a lead of close to 250 at lunch when they could have been considering a declaration.
The first session produced 88 runs, and at lunch Marlon Samuels was heartbeats away from a hundred and Wavell Hinds just shy of a half-century.
After both batsmen achieved their landmarks, there was no raise in the tempo and the first hour after the break saw the slowest scoring of the day.
At the drinks break, Jamaica’s lead was 231 with half the day’s play remaining. It was the type of target that would have prompted some captains to take a chance, but the joint pre-series leaders saw no reason to open up the game.
The remainder of the proceedings became a dull affair may provided some individuals a chance for batting or bowling practice and Jamaica were 340 for eight when the teams called it a day at 3:50 p.m.
In spite of conceding first innings lead for the third successive match, Barbados captain Ryan Hinds remained upbeat.
“The young team is shaping up quite well. Kraigg Brathwaite has been playing with a lot of maturity. I thought it was a pretty good batting effort,” Hinds said.
“To chase down 324 for first innings lead is a tremendous effort by a young team. The pitch was a very good one.
“Young Jason Holder bowled very well, but our fielding continues to let us down. It has been three hard games for us but we are improving.”
Jamaica resumed at the start of the day with Samuels on 58, but neither he nor Wavell Hinds looked to dominate.
Ryan Hinds wheeled away from one end for the entire morning session, while Fidel Edwards and Kevin Stoute shared duties at the other.
It meant that Tino Best and Jason Holder didn’t bowl a ball before lunch in a move that surprised some, considering that Holder, who grabbed five wickets in the first innings, removed both Samuels and Hinds for ducks on Friday.
In-form Samuels duly completed his eighth first-class century after lunch before falling to a smart low catch by Roston Chase at extra-cover off leg-spinner Shamarh Brooks to end a responsible five-hour knock in which he faced 249 balls and struck eight fours and a six.
Samuels, who started the season with an unbeaten 250 against Guyana, had the benefit of two missed chances at first slip but the opportunities that went to Ryan Hinds and Dale Richards when the batsman was on 62 and 87 were not exactly straightforward, Wavell Hinds followed soon after Samuels, giving Best a wicket in his first over of the day that came after 1 p.m.
The left-hander made 57 off 152 balls before edging a good one to the keeper.
Best also bowled Dave Bernard, but clearly his effort had no impact on the selectors who have found no room for him in the 13-man squad travelling to Guyana today.
With the match going nowhere as a contest, Brooks was given a chance to have an extended bowl.
He replaced Hinds after lunch and sent down 20 successive overs before the match was called off.
In addition to removing Samuels, he also bowled Chadwick Walton for a duck with a ball that pitched outside leg, spun sharply, hit the batsman on the pad and went into the stumps.
Brooks got more than a few to spin big and one wonders if Jamaica leg-spinner Odean Brown might have been able to make inroads into Barbados’ batting had the visitors been more adventurous.
