Jamaica maintain unbeaten streak

Jamaica 171 for 4 (Gayle 49, Findlay 39) beat Barbados 170 (Taylor 3-36, Sinclair 2-20) by 6 wickets
Scorecard

Former Queensland allrounder Brendan Nash turned in a fine performance with both bat and ball to help Jamaica coast to a six-wicket victory over Barbados in their final Zone A league match of the KFC Cup. Both teams had already qualified for the semi-finals but Jamaica topped the table as a result of this victory.

Nash bowled a miserly spell of 10-2-11-1 and Jerome Taylor took three wickets as Barbados were restricted to 170. Even that modest total was reached because of a 34-run stand for the tenth wicket. After a brisk start, the scoring-rate fell as the batsmen struggled on a pitch which was not conducive to strokeplay with Kirk Edwards facing 70 balls to make 17.

In reply, Jamaica lost Brenton Parchment early but the rest of the batsmen played handy knocks to help overhaul the target with seven overs to spare. Chris Gayle, the captain, top scored with 49. Shawn Findlay chipped in with 39 while Nash remained not out on 36 as Jamaica maintained it's unbeaten streak in this year's tournament.

Barbados coach Henry Springer blamed the batting for the loss. "It was a lack of situation awareness. Our batsmen need to understand what situation they find themselves in and to be able to deal with it," he told the Nation. "The pitch was one that you needed to get over 220 runs."

The result means that Jamaica will take on Guyana in the first semi-final on Thursday while Barbados clash with Trinidad and Tobago in the other semi-final on Friday.

Leeward Islands 160 for 5 (Banks 55*, Dawes 3-42) beat West Indies Under-19s 159 (Hodge 3-17, Banks 2-18) by 5 wickets
Scorecard

In a match between two teams who had no chance of progressing further in the tournament, Leewards Islands rode on a solid all-round performance from Omari Banks to beat West Indies Under-19s by five wickets.

Despite some wayward bowling from Leewards Islands, who gave away 28 extras including 19 wides, the Under-19s could only manage 159. Banks bowled a tight spell of 2 for 18 in his ten overs while offspinner Chaka Hodge took three lower-order wickets to keep the Under-19s in check. Opener Chesney Hughes top scored with 31 while no other batsman passed the 25-run mark.

In reply, Leewards Islands started shakily as fast bowler Jason Dawes took three wickets to reduce them to 40 for 3. Spinners Veerasammy Permaul and Steven Jacobs bowled economically giving away just 35 runs in their 20 overs to make the Leewards Islands' batsmen work hard for their victory. Banks, who batted with a runner because of a hamstring injury, remained unbeaten on 55 while Steve Liburd and Tonito Willett played useful knocks to ensure the target was reached with two overs to spare.

The result was a consolatory win for the Leewards Islands and means that the Under-19s are the only team to have not picked up a point during the tournament.