Rain saves T&T, slim win for Jamaica

Barbados were forced to accept a draw against Trinidad & Tobago in their opening game at the Queen's Park Oval, as rain denied them a chance to shut out a match they had dominated.

The Barbados bowlers, led by left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican and Carlos Brathwaite, skittled T&T for 96 in the first innings, giving their side a formidable 264-run lead. Warrican took 4 for 12, cleaning up the middle and lower order after Carlos Brathwaite dismissed three of T&T's top four batsmen.

Asked to follow-on, T&T began the final day at 163 for 3 and quickly slipped to 193 for 5 before the game ended with their score at 213 for 5.

Earlier, Barbados' dominant first-innings performance was built around Kraigg Brathwaite's 182 and a 76 from wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich. The pair came together with the score at 85 for 4 and stabilized the innings with a partnership of 176. Barbados lost a few quick wickets after Dowrich was dismissed but Kraigg Brathwaite shepherded the tail-end batsmen to steer the score to 360.

Jamaica began their Professional Cricket League campaign with a hard-fought, 13-run win over Windward Islands, sealed by a final-innings seven-for from legspinner Damion Jacobs.

Jamaica had grabbed the initiative in the first half of the match itself, courtesy a fine all-round showing from left-arm spinner Nikita Miller in a game that was dominated by the bowlers - apart from Miller, there was only one other fifty in the game, in Windwards' chase, from Devon Smith.

Miller had scored 57 from No. 8 in Jamaica's first innings, pushing their total past 200, before 4 for 25 off 18 to wreck Windwards' reply along with pacer Marquino Mindley, who picked up a five-for on first-class debut. That meant Windwards had conceded a 198-run first-innings lead, and it looked like the game had slipped well away from them. No one told their bowlers though, as they combined to skittle Jamaica for 162 the second time round. Left-arm spinner Alston Bobb was the destroyer-in-chief with 5 for 48 - a tally, which added to a career-best innings haul of 6 for 45 in the first innings, gave him his career-best match haul of 11 for 93.

Windwards' batsmen, led by openers Smith (74) and Tyrone Theophile (40) who added 91 runs, made a good fist of the chase of 261, but fell just short against Jacobs' wiles.

Guyana, meanwhile, registered an innings and 10-run win against Leeward Islands. They had got to 343 in the first innings courtesy a Narsingh Deonarine century, and then the Guyana spinners, led by legspinner Devendra Bishoo, took over.

Bishoo combined with left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul and pacer Ronsford Beaton to shoot out Leewards for 94 in their first innings. Each of those bowlers took three apiece, as four of the Leewards line-up were out for ducks. The follow-on was enforced, and while Leewards did better the second time around, the first-innings lead of 249 that they had conceded proved too much to overcome.

Bishoo led Guyana's charge in the second innings, taking 4 for 67. Permaul, who took the new ball, also chipped in with a couple of strikes as Leewards fell for 239, 10 short of making Guyana bat again.