Barbados, Leewards seek to break title drought
KINGSTON, Jamaica,  (CMC) – Unbeaten Barbados will chase their first limited overs title in eight years while Leeward Islands will attempt to break an 11-year drought, when they clash in today’s final of the WICB One-Day Championship here.
By virtue of their record in the tournament, Barbados will start as favourites in the Sabina Park meeting but the Leewards will be hunting an upset, to bring a thrilling end to what has been an erratic campaign.
They have lived a charmed life in the competition, losing to Barbados by four wickets in their opening game, playing to a no-result in their second game against the High Performance Centre, before edging Guyana by 13 runs under the Duckworth/Lewis Method to squeeze into the final as the second placed team in Group B.
In the first semi-final on Thursday, they beat the previously undefeated Windward Islands by four runs to reach the championship match.
With their first title since 1997 looming before them, captain Wilden Cornwall said his Leewards were comfortable with Barbados being the favourites for today’s final.
“Everyone has been calling us underdogs from the start of the tournament until now. We have no problem with that,” said the veteran all-rounder.
“What we want to emphasise is that we have faith in our ability and faith in each other. We have proven that we can beat any team in this competition and we will be confident when we play the final.
“We have a good team, the bowling is our strength, and we know once we post a score we can defend it.”
Cornwall will lead that bowling with his medium pace in tandem with discarded West Indies seamer Lionel Baker, and will hope to welcome back pacer Gavin Tonge who missed the semi-final through injury.
Leg-spinner Anthony Martin, who claimed a hat-trick against the Windwards, will form the backbone of the slow attack and will be partnered by off-spinner Justin Athanaze.
The batting will surround teenaged left-handed opener Chesney Hughes whose 81 in the semi-final fired the Leewards to their eventual total, but fellow opener Montcin Hodge, Javia Liburd and and Omari Banks will be expected to also contribute.
Barbados, meanwhile, will be full of confidence especially after their 58-run whipping of powerhouses Jamaica in the second semi-final on Friday.
They followed up their opening win against the Leewards with crushing 151-run win over Guyana before a no-result against the HPC left them with a point.
Their captain Ryan Hinds said Barbados were focussed on lifting their performance, as they chased their first title since 2002.
“We will not look too much at what the Leewards have done or have not done. We will concentrate on our game and look to perform well in all three departments,” the left-hander said.
“We will focus on our plans and look to get things right. We have batsmen who can be explosive and bowlers who can get wickets at crucial stages, as we showed in the semi-final.
“We have played unbeaten so far and we want to maintain that. We have not won the One-Day trophy since 2002 so we want to get it right this time.”
The explosive bowling will be expected from the fiery pacer Tino Best with West Indies pacer Kemar Roach and rookie Javon Searles also available.
West Indies left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn and Hinds, who also bowls slow left-arm stuff, will provide the spin options.
Hinds, as usual, will lie at the centre of the batting but will be surrounded with young lions like Jonathan Carter, Kirk Edwards, with the swashbuckling Dwayne Smith batting down the order.
The final bowls off at 9 am (10 am Eastern Caribbean time).

TEAMS (from):

BARBADOS – Ryan Hinds (captain), Dale Richards, Kraigg Brathwaite, Kirk Edwards, Jonathan Carter, Kevin Stoute, Dwayne Smith, Carlo Morris, Sulieman Benn, Kemar Roach, Tino Best, Marlon Graham, Jason Haynes, Javon Searles.

LEEWARDS – Wilden Cornwall (captain), Javier Liburd, Montcin Hodge, Chesney Hughes, Steve Liburd, Omari Banks, Jahmar Hamilton, Jacques Taylor, Justin Athanaze, Anthony Martin, Lionel Baker, Gavin Tonge, Gavin Williams, Calvin Williams