Failing with the bat was all the motivation Andre McCarthy needed to inspire him to a match-winning performance with the ball against the Barbados Pride on Sunday.
In what was a must-win match for both teams, if they were to remain in the tournament, McCarthy stepped up for Jamaica taking career-best figures of 6-16 as Barbados, chasing 2019 for victory, crumbled to 167 all out.
Jamaica will now go onto play the unbeaten Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in the semi-final on Wednesday.
In a match that Jamaica’s bowlers provided the runs and the wickets, McCarthy, a senior middle-order batsman, failed to deliver with the bat, bowled by Joshua Bishop for a duck after facing just five balls. It was during a spell when Jamaica’s first five batsmen fell for just 35 runs within the first nine overs of their innings.
But while the Scorpions’ batsmen struggled, they found a sting in their tail in the form of an unbeaten 68 by Odean Smith, who while producing his career-best List A score, helped Jamaica’s last two wickets put on 131 runs.
Jamie Merchant’s 37 and Jeavor Royal’ 16 also contributed to the significant wag in the Scorpions’ tail.
However, for McCarthy, not being able to deliver with the bat, spurred his belief that he had to contribute to the team’s chances of getting to the semi-finals.
“I’m one of the senior players in this team and have to give a big performance. I didn’t make any runs so I knew I had to contribute with something in the game. I told the skipper ‘give me the ball and I am going to do the job for you today,” McCarthy said after the victory.
“I’ve been working really hard on my bowling. I was in Bangladesh with the West Indies team and I was doing a lot of bowling. The coach really recognized my bowling and it’s something that is working for me now.”
Despite winning the man of the match award for his six-wicket haul that featured a game-changing hat-trick in his ninth over, McCarthy said he thrived on the backing of his teammates.
“It’s overwhelming and just a full team effort, everyone believed in me and I just went out there and did the job,” he said.
“I normally keep it tight as a bowler and knew once I did that on this surface, the wickets would come. When I bowled to their batsmen they were tentative, so I just applied the pressure.”