Jamaica win by seven wickets to advance to Busta final

The semi-final between Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago may have been a low-scoring affair all around, but when Jamaica ended the third day needing 102 runs to win and nine wickets in hand, few doubted that they would achieve their target.

Leon Garrick, one of the overnight batsmen, fell soon after the start of play on the fourth day, adding only four runs to take his score to 49. His knock included four fours and came off 61 balls, a valuable contribution in the chase.

Trinidad & Tobago also managed to dismiss the other overnight batsman, Wavell Hinds. Hitting 32 off 49, with two fours and a six, before being caught by Mervyn Dillon off Marlon Black, Hinds fell with the score on 152.

Captain Robert Samuels, however, was in no mood to let things slip. Playing with tempered aggression, he made 43 off just 39 balls, striking five fours and one huge six in his knock. He was given good support by Keith Hibbert; his 26 off 70 balls may have bordered on the sedate, but Jamaica just needed somebody to stay by Samuels and ensure victory, and Hibbert played exactly as the situation demanded.

Trinidad & Tobago captain Richard Smith tried every card up his sleeve, bowling eight of his players in an effort to get vital breakthroughs. But Dinanath Ramnarine, the leg-spinner whom Smith must have been counting on to bundle Jamaica out on a fourth-day pitch, could only return figures of 16-1-70-1, and none of the others could do much better.

Jamaica cruised home in 51.5 overs, a seven-wicket victory that advances them to the final against Guyana. Ricardo Powell won the Man of the Match award, and all Jamaica will be hoping that Powell's form extends into the finals against a strong Guyanese outfit.