SABINA PARK – Red hot Barbados marched to their second straight win of the Regional Four-Day Championship when they hammered Jamaica by 245 runs on the final day of their fifth-round contest yesterday.
At one point, the visitors were left crossing their fingers after rain forced a halt to the evening’s proceedings in the final session with Jamaica stuttering on 122-8.
However, once the showers subsided, it was only a matter of time before Barbados romped to their third victory of the tournament, with the match ending at 5:18 p.m., in the eighth of the mandatory 15 overs, which started at 5 p.m.
Barbados earned 19 points for the win and remained at the top of the points table on 65 points – three more than second-placed Windward Islands, who thrashed the Leeward Islands by 197 runs inside four days on Sunday, with both teams having played five matches.
Trinidad and Tobago are third on 56 points from four matches.
After declaring at their overnight 162 for two and setting the Jamaicans a massive 382 for victory, Barbados bundled the hosts out for 136 late in the evening, to maintain their winning momentum in the competition.
Once again, the Barbadian spinners were at the forefront of the attack, with left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn picking up three for 30 while off-spinner Ashley Nurse finished with three for 40.
Seamers Carlos Brathwaite (2-9) and Jason Holder (2-16) claimed two wickets apiece.
Jamie Merchant top scored with 37 with four fours and a six off 80 balls but no other batsman passed 15.
Barbados started strongly when West Indies pacer Holder knocked over both openers, John Campbell (2) and Jon-Ross Campbell (4) cheaply, to reduce Jamaica to 26 for two in just the tenth over of the innings.
Wickets tumbled regularly leaving Jamaica on the brink of total collapse at 64 for six before Merchant and Nikita Miller, who scored 15, held up Barbados with a defiant seventh-wicket stand of 50.
Once the partnership was broken, however, not even an 85-minute break for rain could save the Jamaicans, as they lost their last four wickets for just 22 runs. (CMC)
