Jamaica wins West Indies Men’s Rising Stars Under-19 50-over Tournament despite loss to B'dos; Trinidad & Tobago, Windward Islands also victorious
Jamaica's opening pair of Adrian Weir and Kevaundre Virgo.
Off-spinner Saurav Worrell was the star of the show with a brilliant six-wicket haul as Barbados handed Jamaica their only defeat of the West Indies Men’s Rising Stars Under-19 50-over Tournament in St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
Worrell ripped through the Jamaican batting at Arnos Vale on Wednesday, finishing with figures of 6-28 off 20 overs, to restrict the Jamaicans to 106 all out to complete a 75-run win.
Captain, Nathan Sealy, also chipped in with 3-13 off 9.4 overs. Adrian Weir (33) and Brian Barnes (32) were the only Jamaican batsmen to score more than eight.
Earlier, Joshua Dorne hit 64 and Zion Brathwaite hit 40 as Barbados posted 181 all out off 45 overs.
Michael Clarke took 4-34 to lead the Jamaicans with the ball and got good support from Deshawn James who took 3-32 off eight overs.
Jamaica, despite the defeat, finished the tournament top of the table with four wins out of five games.
The Windward Islands finished second after their third win in five games with a 56-run win over Guyana at the Park Hill Playing Field in Colonarie.
The Windwards posted a formidable 285-5 off their 50 overs batting first, the highest total in the tournament.
Divonie Joseph led the way with the first century of the Championship, an unbeaten 110 off 132 balls including nine fours and four sixes, while Tarrique Edward provided good support with 64.
Jonathan Rampersaud took 2-49 for Guyana.
Rampersaud also showed good form with the bat, reaching 58* off 46 balls as Guyana reached 179-7 off 38.5 overs before rain ended proceedings with Guyana 56-runs short of where they needed to be.
Earlier, Mavendra Dindyal made 37 and Rampertab Ramnauth 33 as Edward ended with 4-40 from his 10 overs.
The day’s third match saw Trinidad & Tobago pull off a nail-biting three-wicket win over the Leeward Islands at Sion Hill.
The Leewards were bowled out for just 94 in 34.3 overs batting first. The bulk of the damage was done by Ronillster Perreira who took 4-21 from his 10 overs. Vasant Singh took 3-15 from eight overs in support.
The Trinidadians then struggled to reach their target, eventually losing seven wickets on their way to 95 in 34.3 overs.
Kimani Nisbett and Michael Palmer took two wickets, each for the Leewards.
All teams will now turn their attention to the three-day format starting on Saturday.
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Windies women eye vital win against Bangladesh to keep semi-final hopes alive at T20 World Cup
After an impressive six-wicket win over Scotland, West Indies women will seek to build on that momentum when they take on Bangladesh in a crucial encounter that could define their campaign at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
The Caribbean side will enter Thursday’s contest knowing that another win would keep their semi-final hopes alive, as they currently sit in third position on two points, two behind leaders South Africa and England on four points each.
The first ball is 9:00am Jamaica time.
West Indies’ victory over Scotland was a much-needed confidence boost for the team, especially after a crushing 10-wicket loss to South Africa in their opening match. The win not only lifted their spirits but also boosted their net run rate, a key factor in determining the semi-final spots should multiple teams finish level on points.
Assistant coach Ryan Austin emphasized the Hayley Matthews-led team’s readiness to handle what promises to be a tricky challenge, as Bangladesh bowlers, particularly their spinners, have proven to be formidable opponents.
“The team is pretty prepared. We obviously know that Bangladesh is basically a spin-based unit, but with our philosophies, we are more focused on what we can control. Having said that, we still have that element of power within our batting that could counter the spin as well,” Austin said in a pre-game press conference.
“If you look at the wicket, they are playing pretty slow at the moment. South Africa today (Wednesday) actually had a good total on the wicket, and if you watch how they batted, they actually used their feet a lot to the spin. So we are looking to obviously go into the game with that sort of temperament mindset with respect to their spin bowling attack as well. Sharjah has almost kind of a two-paced kind of wicket because during the day it's very low and slow, but in the evenings it kind of changes and comes alive,” he added.
Austin exuded confidence in his team’s batting prowess, with the likes of Matthews, Stafanie Taylor, Deandra Dottin, and Shemaine Campbelle expected to play pivotal roles, especially with the group being poised for a tight finish.
Though those proverbial big guns are yet to really fire, Austin believes their true potential should come to the fore in Thursday’s game, as well as the decisive fixture against England. West Indies currently have a positive net run rate of 1.154, only bettered by leaders South Africa, who have 1.527.
“If you look at how our group is set up, net run-rate is really going to be a big factor later down, especially, if we win both games against Bangladesh and England. So one of the things that we really have to look at is how we go about executing, especially in this game against Bangladesh. So our game plan is to at least probably both first and then try to get to our target as fast as possible,” Austin reasoned.