Barbados reach KFC final

Set a revised target of 217 runs from 38 overs to win, Windwards were restricted to 175 for eight from their reduced number of overs to give Barbados victory, and a place in the Final against Guyana on Sunday at the same venue.

Junior Murray hit five fours in the top score of 47 and Darren Sammy struck five fours in 46 from 62 balls to lead the Windwards’ charge.

Corey Collymore was the most successful Barbados bowler with three wickets for 31 runs from six overs, and Sulieman Benn supported with two for 44 from eight overs.

Dwayne Smith had fallen four short of his maiden regional limited-overs hundred to be the backbone of Barbados for seven from their full allotment of 50 overs.

Barbados captain Courtney Browne’s also had a late flourish of 51 from 47 balls that included one four and four sixes that beefed up his side’s total.

Kenroy Peters snared three for 45 from 10 overs to spark in the Windwards’ bowling. Confusion however, reigned during the Windwards’ chase. They were 100 for three from 25.1 overs, and strangely Murray and Sammy accepted the umpires’ offer for poor light.

Their decision was apparently based upon their interpretation that the match would have continued on today’s reserve day, if the all of the 50 overs were not bowled.

Although the fixtures from the West Indies Cricket Board indicated that the semi-finals and the Final each have a reserve day in case of bad weather, the Playing Conditions for the competition issued to match officials had no such stipulations.

Match officials were going on the premise that since Barbados had bowled the minimum requirement of 20 overs that would have constituted a match, if there was no further play, the Barbadians would have won, since the Windwards were behind the scoring rate that they needed.

Team officials, media personnel, and fans were still debating the issue almost an hour later, when umpires Eddie Nicholls and Clive Duncan emerged from the Guyana Cricket Board office satisfied that the light had improved, and announced that Windwards were given the highly improbable, if not impossible task of getting another 117 runs from 12.5 overs.

The Barbadians might have been uttering a great sigh of relief, when Murray and Sammy walked off for bad light. The two had added 68 for the fourth wicket and looked unflappable in staging the recovery.

Both had survived chances. Benn had dropped Sammy, on three, at short extra cover off Ian Bradshaw in the 13th over, and Ryan Hinds floored a fiery return catch from Murray on 42 in the 22nd over, and looked like they could swing the match their side’s way.

The Windwards had stumbled to 32 for three, after Corey Collymore bowled Devon Smith for five, and Craig Emmanuel for zero off successive balls in the fourth over, and Hinds had added the scalp of Alvin La Feuille stumped for eight in the 12th over.

After the Windwards resumed their chase following the stoppage for poor light, Tino Best bowled Murray with the first ball, and Benn bowled Rawl Lewis, the Windwards captain, for two in the 29th over, and Sammy in the 33rd to leave their opponents with too much to do in too little time.

Though Liam Sebastien with three fours in 35 from 20 balls raised the tempo, it was Barbados and not the Windwards singing the victory song.