ROSEAU, Dominica CMC – Discarded West Indies opening batsman Devon Smith scored an entertaining half-century as Grenada trounced defending champions Dominica by 77 runs to lift the Windward Islands Twenty20 Championship here Sunday.
The left-hander, dropped for the last Test against Pakistan last week, hammered 79 from 67 balls to propel Grenada to 156 for five off their 20 overs after they opted to bat first at Windsor Park.
Smith, who was eventually named as the Man-of-the-Match, was ably supported by Tade Carmichael who hit 44 as seamer Martin Matthew grabbed two for 15 in four overs and off-spinner and captain Liam Sebastien two for 26.
Dominica then lost their way very early to be bowled out for a disappointing 79 in 15 overs, much to the dismay of the estimated 5 000 fans who turned out to witness the encounter.
They were undermined by fast bowlers John Olive (3-18) and Nelon Pascal (3-20) who took three wickets apiece to rock the top order while left-arm spinner Ronald Etienne (2-14) and Eamon Alexander (2-22) supporting with two wickets each.
Tyron Theophille top-scored for Dominica with 17 while Sebastien added 11.
In the third place match, St Lucia defeated St Vincent and the Grenadines by seven wickets after easily overhauling a modest target of 126.
The Vincentians batted first and posted 125 all out in 20 overs, with Shem Browne stroking 40 in his first match of the tournament and Hyron Shallow adding 31.
Sherlon Isidore was the most successful bowler, taking three for 32 while captain Garey Mathurin bowled a miserly spell, conceding only four runs from his four overs while taking two wickets with his left-arm spin.
Craig Emmanuel finished with two for 27 and Xavier Gabriel claimed two for 26 for St Lucia who cruised to victory with 12 balls to spare as they reached 126 for three, thanks to Craig Emmanuel and Keddy Lesporis who both scored 32 while Alex Antoine finished unbeaten on 29.
Smith was named as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and also collected awards for scoring the most runs as well as having the highest individual score.