A day of tremendous momentum swings ended with Leeward Islands holding on with one wicket remaining to win the West Indies Rising Stars Under-19 championship in a roller coaster three-day final against Barbados at Arnos Vale in St. Vincent on Saturday.

Nathan Edwards, the left-handed allrounder ended unbeaten on 11, which came off 55 balls in over 90 minutes at the crease, played a defensive masterclass for to help Leewards hold on in their second innings on 51-9 (28 overs) to avoid being bowled out, to deny Barbados the title in dramatic fashion.

The day’s play began with Leeward Islands batting in their first innings on 172-4, 107 runs behind Barbados's first innings total of 279-8 declared.

 Overnight batsman Carl Bowen-Tuckett showed his experience during a crucial composed knock of 68 off 200 balls with two boundaries to anchor the Leewards before he was dismissed in the 98th over, ahead of the team tactical declaration on exactly 250-8 (110 overs), to receive key batting points for scoring 250 and facing that number of overs.

Although Barbados held a 29-run lead, Leewards had closed the points gap due to the fast bowling and batting points accumulated. So, when Edwards, bowling his left-arm medium, trapped Barbados opener Achilles Browne without scoring with the second delivery, that lead quickly became insignificant. Right-hand medium pacer Chamiqueko Landerfort took 4-16 as Barbados collapsed to 76-9.

The final equation to win the final meant Leewards either could chase down the 106 to win or just bat out the final session. While Barbados had to get all 10 wickets. When pacer Johan Layne struck in the first over of Leewards run chase, they started to wobble. Left-arm spinner Nathan Sealy with an inspired spell (14-8-10-6) was seemingly bowling Barbados to victory, but one final twist would occur.

Sealy unfortunately dropped Edwards at first slip with off fellow left-arm spinner Devon Stevenson which would have won Barbados the title. In the end Edwards and last man Onaje Armoy survived the final stages to win the championship for the Leeward Islands.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Soca Warriors secured a 2-0 win over St. Vincent & the Grenadines as Group C action continued in the Concacaf Nations League B at the Arnos Vale Stadium on Friday.

Defender Neveal Hackshaw, who represents USL Championship club Indy Eleven, opened the scoring in the 17th minute before AEK Athens winger Levi Garcia got the second and final goal for T&T.

Trinidad and Tobago are now second in Group C with six points after three games, one behind Nicaragua who moved to seven points after securing a 2-0 win over the Bahamas at the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium in Nassau.

The Youth One-Day-International series between West Indies Under-19s and South Africa Under-19s ended in a 2-2 draw after the Caribbean outfit secured a 19-run win in the fourth and final match at Arnos Vale on Monday.

For the fourth game in a row, West Indies U19 captain Ackeem Auguste won the toss, this time choosing to bat first.

In another disappointing batting display, West Indies U19s could only manage 126 all out in 35 overs.

Teddy Bishop top scored with 43 and Rivaldo Clarke added 30, against 4-11 from leg-spinner Dewald Brevis and two wickets each from pacers Matthew Boast and Aphiwe Mnyanda.

South Africa U19s were then skittled out for 107 in 23.5 overs to go down by 19 runs.

Mnyanda top-scored with 20 while Boast (11) and Valentine Kitime (13) were the only other batsmen to get double figures against 3-34 off eight overs from pacer Johann Layne, 3-23 off six overs from medium-pacer McKenny Clarke, and 3-14 off 2.5 overs from left-arm spinner Jaden Carmichael.

Both teams will now turn their attention to the start of the ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup on January 14^th in the Caribbean.

West Indies U19s will play Australia U19s in their first game at Providence in Guyana on January 14^th while South Africa U19s will square off against India U19s at the same venue a day later.