Jones propels Hampshire to thrilling win

Hampshire beat Barbados in a thrilling Super Over after scores were level at the end of the allotted overs in their Group B match at the Sir Viv Richards Stadium in Antigua.

Hampshire won the toss and elected to bat and got off to a solid start after openers Jimmy Adams and Johann Myburgh added 85 runs. However, Wavell Hinds struck in the 14th over to dismiss Myburgh and Adams in quick succession. The Hampshire innings lost momentum after that. Sean Ervine tried to up the ante with a quickfire 32 off 19 balls to carry Hampshire to 136 for 3. Barbados' chase started badly as they lost opener Kirk Edwards and No. 3 Jonathan Carter early. A 42-run partnership between opener Dwayne Smith and Alcindo Holder steadied the innings.

However, once Smith was dismissed after reaching his half-century with the score on 103, the Barbados innings got derailed. At that stage they needed 34 off 28 balls with five wickets in hand. Chris Wood picked up two crucial wickets and it all came down to the final over with Barbados needing nine runs off it. Simon Jones held his nerve to dismiss Carlo Morris off the third ball of the over and with Barbados needing one run off the final ball, Jones had Tino Best caught at point to tie the game.

Barbados batted first in the one-over eliminator with Smith and Morris. But Jones followed up his spectacular performance in Barbados' 20th over with another stunning over as both batsmen were dismissed without scoring a run. Hampshire needed just one run for a win and though Suleiman Benn dismissed Ervine off the first ball, Myburgh took a single off the fourth ball to seal an exciting win for Hampshire.

The second game of the day was a more sedate affair as Leeward Islands were beaten by Trinidad & Tobago by 56 runs, to slump to their second successive defeat in the competition. Lendl Simmons powered his way to 83 off just 62 balls, and there were handy contributions from Adrian Barath (26) and Darren Bravo (20) as T&T posted a competitive total of 153 for 5. Leeward's chase never got going as Ravi Rampaul ran through their batting line-up with his medium pace to pick up five wickets. Only Devon Thomas and Justin Athanaze crossed 20 as were bowled out for 97 in 18.4 overs.