Jamaicans overcome Stoute burst to reach 4-Day final

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Jamaica withstood an inspired spell from medium pacer Kevin Stoute to clinch a one-wicket victory over Barbados yesterday and advance to the Final of the Regional Four-Day Tournament.

Stoute captured 5-29 from 16 overs and left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn ended with 3-78 from 26 overs, as the Jamaicans successfully chased 167 for victory on the final day of the semi-final at Kensington Oval.
Jermaine Blackwood hit four boundaries in the top score of 64 from 98 balls in two hours and Andre McCarthy made 43, but no other batsman reached 20, as the visitors almost blew their chance to win.
Nikita Miller formalised the result about 15 minutes past the scheduled lunch interval, when he steered a delivery from Benn into square cover for a single to allow Jamaica to breathe a huge sigh of relief – but left the home team, the newly-crowned regional champions crestfallen.
The Jamaicans will now make the short hop to St Lucia, where they will face Windward Islands in the Final, starting on Saturday at the Beausejour Cricket Ground.
Jamaica started the day needing 61 more runs to win with eight wickets standing but their approach was in stark contrast to the previous evening when they played aggressively to reach 106 for two.
Andre McCarthy, whose positive stroke-play helped to put the Jamaicans within sight of victory yesterday, was caught at extra cover off Benn from a leading edge, seven runs short of his half-century.
He struck four boundaries from 43 balls in just over an hour and put on 91 with Blackwood for the third wicket.
It was at this stage that Stoute made his intervention into the match, bowling unchanged from start to finish, to send shivers down the spines of Jamaica.
He had Blackwood caught behind in his fourth over before Carlton Baugh Jr was run-out for the second time in the match for one, attempting a single.
Stoute then had Jamaica captain Tamar Lambert, a century-maker in the first innings, caught at slip for 10 in his ninth over, Sheldon Cotterell, strangely promoted to eight, bowled for six in his following over and Damion Jacobs caught at gully for a duck two balls later, leaving Jamaica 139 for eight.
Jerome Taylor hit a four and a six in 12 to ease the tension but was caught at slip off Stoute for a duck with 12 required for victory.
Stoute and Benn bowled steadily to make the last-wicket pair of Miller and Dave Bernard Jr work for the remaining runs – but the Jamaican pair inched them over the finish line.

(BARBADOS 1st innings 245
Jamaica 1st innings 302
Barbados 2nd innings 223
JAMAICA 2nd innings (target: 167)
N. Bonner c Carter b Benn 0
J. Campbell c C. Brathwaite b Benn 10
J. Blackwood c wkp. Dowrich b Stoute 64
A. McCarthy c K. Brathwaite b Benn 43
T. Lambert c Benn b Stoute
C. Baugh run-out (K. Brathwaite/Benn) 1
D. Bernard not out 14
S. Cotterell b Stoute 6
D. Jacobs c Nurse b Stoute 0
J. Taylor c Benn b Stoute 12
N. Miller not out 3
Extras: (nb-4) 4
Total: (9 wkts, 57 overs) 167
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-20, 3-111, 4-124, 5-129, 6-133, 7-139, 8-139, 9-155.
Bowling: F. Edwards 3-1-9-0; Benn 26-4-78-3; Nurse 5-0-29-0; C. Brathwaite 2-0-3-0; Carter 2-0-9-0; Cummins 2-0-9-0 (nb-2); K. Brathwaite 1-0-1-0; Stoute 16-3-29-5 (nb-2).)

 

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