A DETERMINED, never-say-die approach in the field backed up by a composed batting display in the chase, proved the main ingredients as the Windwards Islands’ cricketers concocted a savoury, five-wicket victory over highly-fancied Jamaica in the second semifinal of the of the Regional Super 50 competition at Kensington Oval on Friday night.
After their bowlers rebounded to send the Jamaicans sliding from the powerful position of 169 for one at the start of the 37th over to a manageable 242 for eight off the full allotment, the Windwards, led by contrasting half centuries by Devon Smith (59), Man of the-Match Andre Fletcher (68) and Keddy Lesporis (61), reached the winning target off the final delivery of the 49th over when Dalton Polius slashed a short, wide delivery from pacer Andrew Richardson into the boundary at deep backward point.
Despite the early loss of West Indies Twenty20 opening bat Johnson Charles, Smith got the Windwards’ reply off to blazing beginning, launching an unrelenting assault on Jamaica’s new ball bowlers before, almost against the run of play, leg-spinner Odean Brown induced the lef- handed Grenadian to edge an attempted cut shot into the gloves of wicket-keeper Carlton Baugh Jr.
Smith, the leading batsman across all formats in regional competitions this season, cracked ten fours in his commanding knock that set the stage for the perfectly-paced response after Jamaica chose to bat on a placid pitch once they won the toss.
His dismissal brought Fletcher to the wicket with the score 80 for two from 12.4 overs after Smith and Tyrone Theophille had posted 78 in rapid fashion.
Browne(2-38) struck again at 104, winning a leg before verdict against Theophille(29) to even the balance between the teams but Fletcher and Lesporis put the Windwards in firm control with a 91-run stand for the next wicket.
Fletcher was uncharacteristically cautious in the initial stages of his innings as Jamaica, sporting as many as four spin bowlers in their line-up, maintained disciplined lines during the middle overs.
Fortune favoured him when Bernard, fielding at mid-off barely missed out on hauling in a catch off Richardson when he had made 21. But the 25-year-old Grenadian soon blossomed and played a few handsome backfoot drives off the spinners on the way to completing 50 off 59 balls.
His dismissal, caught in the deep on the leg-side seeking to lift a sixth boundary, breathed new life into the Jamaicans’ effort but Lesporis, a product of the present class of the Sagicor High Performance Centre all but closed the door on the 2011 champions as he and Windwards captain Liam Sebastien guided the team to within seven runs of the target.
Four fours and the sole six of the innings were his main scoring shots in the 81 balls he faced.
Jamaica too lost an early wicket, Danza Hyatt dragging left arm pacer Kenroy Peters’ fourth delivery of the match back onto the wicket.
However Hyatt’s opening partner Brenton Parchment found a staunch ally in Nkrumah Bonner with whom he proceeded to occupy the next 34.4 overs in stitching together 166.
Sebastien tried various bowling combinations in a vain effort to breach the second wicket stand until a double-strike by Delorn Johnson in the second over of the final Power Play proved to be the catalyst to a grand recovery by the Windward Islands’ bowlers.
Johnson induced a miscued hook from Bonner with the second delivery and two balls later had Parchment caught in the covers by Smith for 86 (101 balls, 10 fours) as the score slipped from 169 for one to 173 for three.
Bonner (74), who announced his arrival at the crease with a couple of sublime off-drives against Peters stroked eight boundaries off 110 balls.
Five wickets toppled for 28 runs as the Jamaican batsmen sought to accelerate the scoring. They owed the eventual total to al-lrounder David Bernard Jr who stood firm amidst the mayhem towards the end of the innings. A lofted hit over long-on from Johnson’s bowling produced the only six of the innings and he counted three fours in his 32 not out.
Though expensive, Peters returned the best figures for Windwards (3-60), while Johnson took two for 48 and captain Liam Sebastien two for 43.
West Indies off-spinner Shane Shillingford bowled economically but had to settle for a single wicket while conceding 30 runs from 10 overs.
The Windwards, who enjoyed capturing the region’s limited-overs title in 1989 and 2000 and who are contesting their third final will meet first-time finalists Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) in Sunday’s grand final after CCC’s upset of previously unbeaten Trinidad and Tobago in the first semi on Thursday night.