Record-breaking bowling figures by pacer Delorn Johnson condemned Barbados to a second humiliating defeat within 24 hours as Windward Islands got the better of a low-scoring cricket contest for third position in the Caribbean Twenty20 last night.
The Windwards, who like their opponents had played unbeaten until the semifinals, easily overhauled the paltry 101 all out made by the Barbadians, replying with 105 for three off 17.5 overs to win by seven wickets.
The 23 year-old former West Indies Under-19 player undermined the home team’s batting effort with a sensational first over in which he grabbed three wickets from four deliveries to leave the locals scrambling on four for three.
His eventual return of five wickets for five runs in four overs bettered the figures of Trinidadian left-arm unorthodox spinner Dave Mohammed, who held the record for the best bowling figures in regional T20 competition with five for eight versus St Lucia in the Stanford Twenty20 tournament of 2008.
A spectacular pick-up and throw by Andre Fletcher in the covers that resulted in the run-out of in-form opening bat Dwayne Smith further compounded the Bajans’ early problems as the scoring virtually stalled in the first ten overs which yielded 17 runs.
Vincentian-born Johnson, a product of the Sagicor High Performance Centre, struck with the wicket of Barbados captain Kirk Edwards off his second delivery after the home side won the toss and elected to bat.
Kevin Stoute lasted two deliveries before he, like Edwards was snapped up behind the stumps by Linden James, and the burly left-armer was on a hat-trick when wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich edged his first ball onto the leg stump.
Jonathan Carter (42), recalled to the starting XI after being dropped for the previous two matches and Alcindo Holder (24) led a brief recovery in a stand of 68 for the fifth-wicket but their dismissals opened the way for Shillingford, who had figures of 3-2-1-3 from his first spell, to wrap up the tail in swift fashion.
Fidel Edwards gave the local supporters hope with a wicket off the first ball but experienced pair Andre Fletcher (42) and Devon Smith (34) featured in a 67-run second-wicket stand to thwart any ideas of a Barbadian fightback.
