Three in a row for Barbados Pride

It wasn’t quite pace like fire but it was a superb display of seam and swing bowling with purpose and penetration on a helpful Kensington Oval pitch last night.

West Indies’ pace pair Kemar Roach and Miguel Cummins exploited a pitch freshened by dew on a chilly night as Barbados Pride routed the Windward Islands Volcanoes for a paltry 111 to win their third round Regional Super50 cricket match by 100 runs.   

Roach, with four for 35 and Cummins, who had career-best figures of four for 27 in ten overs, had to pull the choke after Barbados Pride were restricted to a respectable 211 for nine in 50 overs.

It was defending champions Barbados Pride’s third straight triumph following easy wins against Trinidad and Tobago Red Force and English county Hampshire.

Shai Hope carefully compiled a top score of 53 off 88 balls with two fours and a six while Shamarh Brooks acontributed 32 off 46 balls at No. 6. There were also cameos from Jonathan Carter (28 off 35 balls) and Roston Chase (27 off 40 balls) as the Barbados Pride batsmen were kept on a tight rein by disciplined bowling from the Volcanoes.

Burly left-arm seamer Delorn Johnson was the pick of the Volcanoes’ bowlers with three for 36 off his ten overs. Barbadian fast-medium bowler Kyle Mayers also captured three for 59 while captain Shane Shillingford was miserly, taking two for 28 in his ten overs.

Left-arm spinner Kavem Hodge, who used the new ball, was wicket-less but bowled ten consecutive overs for just 27 runs.      

In reply, the Volcanoes were rocked by Roach and Cummins.

Roach started by removing the prolific opener Devon Smith for one in the third over, courtesy a stupendous catch by Carter at cover point.

Johnson Charles followed for 11 when he was trapped leg before wicket, playing around a full-length delivery from Cummins.

Andre Fletcher then departed for 16, edging Cummins to Sulieman Benn at second slip while Roach also bowled Tyrone Theophile for six.

Former Barbados captain Kirk Edwards hit two lovely boundaries, a square cut off Cummins and an off-side drive off Roach but he was undone for 16 by a peach of the delivery from the latter, which breeched his defence and shattered his stumps.

Cummins was immediately recalled after a solitary over at that stage from Carlos Brathwaite and should have removed Hodge on seven but Benn dropped a sitter at first slip. 

After Roach bounced out Mayers, who was caught at backward square leg by Brooks for two, Cummins forced Shillingford to fend a catch to Ashley Nurse at second slip.

Cummins grabbed a fourth wicket as Johnson, pulling, was caught inside the square leg boundary for eight.

After rain delayed the end for about half-hour, the inevitable came when Carlos Brathwaite bowled Larry Edwards for seven and last man Obed McCoy was run out for seven, leaving Hodge not out on 36.  

Earlier, Kevin Stoute fell for three when his loose drive off Johnson carried to Mayers at third man.

Johnson struck again as captain Kraigg Brathwaite, trying to steer a delivery, was brilliantly caught one-handed by wicketkeeper Fletcher for 18.

Carter batted fluently, hitting three fours before he was trapped leg before wicket, playing back to the first delivery from Shillingford which kept low.

Fletcher held another excellent one-handed catch when Chase edged a delivery angled across him from left-arm pacer McCoy. 

Hope, who started slowly, taking 42 balls over his first 16 runs, blossomed when left-arm spinner Larry Edward was introduced.

He swung Edward’s second ball for six and also elegantly guided him to the third man boundary for four.

But when he fell at 137 for five in Shillingford’s last over, trapped leg before wicket on the back foot, Barbados Pride’s middle and lower order failed to come to grips with the situation.

With 14 overs left, they threw caution to the wind, opting for big shots in gathering a further 74 runs. Carlos Brathwaite and Nurse were both taken by Theophile inside the long-off boundary, trying to hoist Mayers over the top for 17 and four, respectively.

Brooks started shakily before pulling McCoy over mid-wicket for six but was unable to get another boundary, eventually skying Johnson to Charles at long-off.

Roach also fell to Roach, giving Fletcher his third catch as Barbados rallied past the 200-mark, which proved more than enough once Roach and Cummins got the ball in their hands. (EZS)