Guyanese fight hard, but settle for second spot
Windwards spinner Dember gets 14-89 vs Jamaica
T&T make merry with tons by Christmas and Solozano
Bridgetown, Barbados — Barbados were crowned champions of the West Indies Cricket Board’s Under-19 Three-day Tournament as they earned a fighting draw against Guyana on Thursday. The Bajans ended with 45.5 points from five matches ahead of the Guyanese, who finished in second place with 38 points.
Playing at the Desmond Haynes Oval, Guyana recovered from 59-5 to reach 159 in the second innings. Mohan Ramdeen batted with freedom to make 66 and withstood some quality fast bowling from Darnell Greenidge (3-35) and Akeem Jordan (3-22). Barbados were set 85 for victory off a minimum of 16 overs, but they never took up the challenge.
Speaking after the match, Barbados captain Shai Hope said he was happy his team was able to win on home soil. The last time the tournament was played in Barbados, back in 2008, the Bajans also won the three-day title.
"It was a very good team performance and it feels very good to win the title at home for the people of Barbados," said Hope, who made three centuries in five matches. "We are very happy. Hats off to everyone who played a role and who helped us along the way. We kept our focus throughout and always believed we would win, no matter what position we were in."
Hope added: "We came into the tournament looking to win and we did just that. We wanted to give all 14 players an opportunity and everyone chipped in when they got that chance to represent Barbados. We always kept our eyes on the bonus points and we benefitted a lot from our fast bowlers who were brilliant for us in this tournament."
There was a run feast at Kensington Oval as Trinidad & Tobago made 443-5 to get first innings points over Leeward Islands, who made 423. Left-handers Brian Christmas (153) and Jeremy Solozano (128) put the Leewards bowling the sword in the first half of the day, while Vikash Mohan helped himself to 92 in the final session.
Solozano batted for six hours, faced 259 balls and hit 15 fours to record his second century of the tournament. He added 184 for the second wicket with Christmas, who batted 6 ½ hours, faced 290 balls and cracked 16 fours and a six. Mohan then enjoyed himself, striking a six and ten fours off 92 balls as he added 143 off 149 balls with Christmas.
Over at the Weymouth Sports Complex, Windward Islands off-spinner Kenneth Dember got turn and bounce on a helpful pitch to take career-best 8-44 off 26 overs against Jamaica. This followed up his first innings six-wicket haul as he ended with match figures of 14 for 89.
The players will have a two-day break before the start of the 50-over tournament on Sunday.