MUST BE OUT! Barbados keeper Courtney Browne and seamer Dwayne Smith bellowing a leg-before appeal as Carl Tuckett offered no stroke. He was given out for 42.

ADDELITA CANCRYN GROUND, Charlotte Amalie – Six down, one to go. Barbados are simply unstoppable it seems.
The repeat Carib Beer Cup champions maintained their 100 per cent winning record yesterday by completing a comprehensive innings victory over Leeward Islands.

It was achieved with a day and session to spare, much to the disappointment of hometown fans and the St Thomas Cricket Association, which was expecting a mammoth Sunday crowd.

In the circumstances, the two teams have agreed to play a limited-overs match today.

Barbados won by an innings and 48 runs after Leewards, with a first-innings deficit of 271, were dismissed for 223 five minutes after the scheduled tea break.

The victory pushed the runaway champions to 72 points and on the verge of a regional record with just their final preliminary match against Trinidad and Tobago to come.

Yesterday’s demolition of Leewards came mainly by way of Pedro Collins’ three wickets, along with two each to Ryan Hurley and Dwayne Smith, after Ian Bradshaw took care of both openers the previous evening.

Overall, it was a performance that pleased acting coach Hendy Wallace.

“Teamwork all the way through,” Wallace said. “The main thing was Sherwin Campbell at the top. That set the standard. We also showed great depth in the bowling. Pedro Collins has been outstanding for the team all season. In the second innings, Bradshaw came to the fore and even Dwayne Smith came in and did a job.

Recipe for success

“You have to say that it is the all-round ability of the team that has been responsible for the success.”

Leewards’ second innings virtually followed the pattern of the first.

After the two openers were dispatched early, there was some resistance from the No. 3, 4 and 5 batsmen, followed by another middle-order slump, more defiance from the No. 8 and a quick wrap-up of the tail.

The only significant difference was that Leewards managed to survive longer than they did in the first innings when they lasted 48.1 overs for their 161. This time they batted for 84.2 overs.

At the start of the day, Sylvester Joseph and Tonito Willett extended their third-wicket stand well into the morning to give fans some optimism of carrying the match into the fourth day.

Both batsmen played positively and Barbados might have been concerned when the partnership was worth 108.

By then, the biggest crowd of the match was in and most of the 1 500 spectators were enjoying themselves.

There was a lively atmosphere with the presence of a cacophony of noises emanating to the left of the media box with the sounds of drums and other percussion instruments.

A lively group of spectators was also very vocal with their singing. One of their impromptu selections included We Want Barbados to the tune of the Mighty Grynner’s We Want More.

Once the partnership between Joseph and Willett was broken after an hour-and-a-half, the noises around the ground died down – for obvious reasons.

Joseph had just passed 50 that included nine sweet fours before his loose drive off Collins resulted in a catch to first slip.

After lunch, taken at 160 for three, Leewards lost three wickets in the twinkling of any eye as Browne turned to the spin combination of Ryan Hurley and Ryan Hinds.

To the second delivery after the break from Hurley, Willett was prised out by a magnificent reflex catch by Antonio Mayers at forward short-leg from a firm sweep.

Hurley struck again by having Wilden Cornwall lbw with an atrocious attempt to pull.

At the opposite end, Hinds accounted for Jason Williams in the identical manner of the first innings when he was bowled off the face of the bat offering no stroke.

For the next hour, there was mainly defence from Carl Tuckett and Chaka Hodge against the spin that operated for the first hour-and-a-half in the post-lunch period.

There were occasions when Tuckett and Hodge were not exactly comfortable, but they survived and it prompted Browne to turn to the seamers in an effort to dislodge the partnership.

Tuckett, the first innings top scorer, again played solidly for 42 before falling in the first over of a spell from Smith. Offering no stroke to one that cut back, he was ruled lbw but seemed unhappy with the decision given against him.

Smith produced a beauty next ball, one that pitched on leg stump and cut sharply to hit Virgil Browne’s off stump.

Collins then finished the match when Kerry Jeremy was bowled all over the place.

SCOREBOARD

BARBADOS 1st Innings 432

LEEWARD ISLANDS 1st Innings 161

LEEWARD ISLANDS 2nd Innings

(overnight 76-2)

*A. Adams c wk Browne b Bradshaw 13

S. Jeffers c wk Browne b Bradshaw 12

S. Joseph c Reifer b Collins 50

T. Willett c Mayers b Hurley 63

C. Tuckett lbw b Smith 42

W. Cornwall lbw b Hurley 1

+J. Williams b Hinds 5

C. Hodge c Reifer b Collins 9

V. Browne b Smith 0

K. Jeremy b Collins 9

A. Sanford not out 0

Extras (b4, lb4, nb11) 19

TOTAL (all out – 84.5 overs) 223

Fall of wickets: 1-26 (Adams), 2-27 (Jeffers), 3-135 (Joseph), 4-160 (Willett), 5-162 (Cornwall), 6-167 (Williams), 7-208 (Tuckett), 8-208 (Browne), 9-214 (Hodge), 10-223 (Jeremy).

Bowling: Collins 12.2-3-46-3 (nb6), Bradshaw 13-3-34-2, Hurley 20-6-39-2 (nb2), Benn 10-0-40-0, Hinds 15-5-29-1 (nb3), Smith 13-5-23-2, Mayers 1-0-4-0. Result: Barbados won by an innings and 48 runs at 2:45 p.m. on the penultimate day.

Points: Barbados 12, Leewards 0.

Man Of The Match: Sherwin Campbell.

Umpires: Clancy Mack (Antigua and Barbuda), Vivian Johnson (Jamaica).

Match referee: Bernard Douglas.