Bernard leads Jamaica to historic win

Jamaica have secured a record-breaking fifth consecutive Regional Four-Day Competition title, after staging a dramatic turnaround on the final day of the match against Barbados in Kingston. Led by seamer David Bernard, they routed Barbados for 90 in 26.3 overs, to seal a 139-run victory.

After being the form team all season - they won all their league games and then rolled Guyana in a low-scoring semi-final - Jamaica began the day with the bigger challenge. After conceding a first-innings lead to Barbados, they began the day needing an outright win to take the title, while the visitors just needed to play out a draw.

Jamaica began the day on 133 for 3 - effectively 115 for 3. Their batsmen showed the required urgency: captain Tamar Lambert scored an unbeaten 42 at a little less than a run a ball, while Bernard and Horace Miller's cameos were studded with sixes and helped Jamaica knock off 114 off 18 overs. They declared prior to lunch, having set Barbados 230 with a minimum of 62 overs remaining in the day and match.

Then Bernard took over. In overcast conditions, he produced a highly incisive spell in which he ripped through the Barbados top order. He went to lunch with figures of 4 for 19, with Barbados tottering at 36 for 5. There was to be no recovery, as none of the batsmen managed to make more than - or something even close to - Shane Dowrich's 32.

Eventually Barbados were skittled with plenty of time remaining. Spinners Nikita Miller and Odean Brown too played their part, scalping five between them. However, it was Barbados' left-arm tweaker Sulieman Benn who was named Man of the Match, for his combined figures of 9 for 157.