T&T ride on Pollard half-century

Trinidad & Tobago stayed at the top of the KFC Cup regional one-day competition with an emphatic five-wicket victory over the Leeward Islands in Scarborough, their third consecutive win in the limited overs contest.

Kieron Pollard's 69, that steered T&T to the target of 177, won him the Man-of-the Match award. It took T&T only 36.3 overs of their allotted 50 to surpass the 176 set by the visitors, who won the toss and inserted themselves first up on a Shaw Park pitch that offered bounce.

With a solid fielding and bowling display and the gallant, sturdy efforts of 19-year-old Pollard and 16-year-old opener Adrian Barath (41), T&T showed why they are the defending Carib Beer Series champions. Barath and Ganga steadied the ship with selective shots, while pinching the ones and twos. Later, Barath and Polard worked good in combination and both showed punishing stroke play.

The shot of the day was struck by Pollard - on the fourth ball of the first over, facing Leewards spinner Hodge, Pollard blasted the ball high and straight past the bowler, the spectators, the pavilion and the media booths on the second level before it was deposited in the yard of neighbouring Scarborough Secondary.

The win had been set up by a fine performance on the field. Some wily bowling, which saw each of the six bowlers used by captain Daren Ganga getting into the wicket-taking act, was buttressed by sharp fielding, with Ganga himself and Pollard each executing two clinical and momentum-breaking run outs.

That included the "play-of-the-day" from Ganga, who swooped in fast from midwicket to produce a direct hit in one smooth motion that caught Omari Banks by surprise and well short of his crease. Leewards skipper Sylvester Joseph (72) and Cadville Rogers (50) were the only ones who dug in as their team-mates fell around them.

Veerasammy Permaul's five-wicket haul guided Guyana to a comprehensive 40-run win over Jamaica at Alpart Sports Club in St Elizabeth. Guyana, having been inserted to bat, managed a modest 163 but offspinner Permaul, with his second five-wicket haul in one-dayers, ensured that it was more than adequate. David Bernard (21) and Carlton Baugh (29) offered some resistance but Permaul cleaned both of them up to set up a fine win.

A light afternoon shower forced the abandonment of the third round KFC Cup match between Windward Islands and Barbados at Benjamin's Park in Dominica. After intermittent morning showers had delayed the start until 1:57 pm and reduced the match to a 20-overs-a-side affair, the game was called off when rain sent the players off the field at 2:47 pm. The stoppage forced an automatic abandonment since there was not enough time to get in the minimum number of overs by the cut-off time. When the rain came, Barbados, who were sent in, were had raced to 82 for 3 in nine overs.