Barbados humble Sussex to march into semi-finals

Barbados crushed Sussex by eight wickets at the Kensington Oval and climbed to the top of the table in Group B. Sussex, who needed a win to keep their prospects alive, disappointed by shuddering to 89 all out in 18 overs. The Barbados bowlers continued their fine form by bowling out the opposition for less than 100 runs for third successive time.

Sussex had a sedate, but solid start where they got to 23 runs in four overs without losing any wicket. But Tino Best sparked the slump by removing Joe Gatting and Sussex struggled through the rest of the innings, with only three batsmen getting to double figures. Fidel Edwards, playing his first game, picked up three wickets in his last 7 balls after Best (3 for 11) and Ashley Nurse (2 for 8) had annihilated the top order.

In reply, Barbados cantered to their target without any trouble. Opener Kevin Stoute and No. 4 Shane Dowrich shared an unbeaten 52-run stand, which took Barbados straight into the semi-finals.

In another Group B encounter, also played at the Kensington Oval, Netherlands beat Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) by 26 runs to keep the competition hot for the second semi-finalist spot. Batting first, the Dutch openers, Stephanus Myburgh and Michael Swart, added 70 runs in eight overs. Swart scored 57 off 43 balls and was supported well by Alexei Kervezee (36 off 31) to set up a challenging target for CCC. Later, the Dutch bowled with discipline to deny any momentum to the batsmen. Both teams need to win their last league games to challenge Jamaica for the other semi-final spot available in the group.