Jamaica top Busta points table after fourth round

Reigning champions Barbados continued their woeful form with the bat into the fourth round of the ongoing Busta Cup, losing to Trinidad & Tobago at Trinidad, the hosts pulling off a four-wicket win that rode on a stronger batting performance than anything else.

Winning the toss, Barbados opted to bat, but they could only put up 174 in 18.5 overs, with none of the batsmen crossing the 40-run mark. That put the visitors on the back foot right away, and although Ian Bradshaw took four wickets in bowling Trinidad & Tobago out for 210, his batting colleagues could not strike form in the second innings either.

Skipper Philo Wallace struck 52 at the top of the order, but the batting crumbled again, and Barbados were shot out for 229, leaving the home side with a target of 194. Captain Richard Smith echoed Wallace's effort, but went one degree better, seeing his side home with an unbeaten 59. His efforts earned him the Man of the Match award in his side's win.

At Jamaica, Leeward Islands were demolished by the hosts, losing by 133 runs in a match that saw the home side's bowling dominate the contest. Put in to bat, Jamaica made 257 in 104.5 overs, a slow rate of scoring but an effective total nonetheless. Kerry Jeremy took five wickets for Leewards, but aside from Stuart Williams' 57, none of the batsmen could buckle down to their task, resulting in the visitors being dismissed for just 162, with Gareth Breese scalping six batsmen.

It was then Keith Hibbert's turn to star with the bat, and he did so by making 81 out of the 133 runs on the board when he was dismissed. Skipper Robert Samuels made a more sedate 51 and Breese supplemented his bowling by an unbeaten 53, taking Jamaica to 233 for nine declared.

Chasing 329 was never on the cards, but Laurie Williams took 5-20 off 11.2 overs, breaking into the lower middle order and bundling Leeward Islands out for 195 in 83.2 overs. Breese received the Man of the Match award for his sterling batting and bowling efforts.

After promising much in their third round match, Bangladesh 'A' went back to their shoddy ways, losing by an innings and 143 runs to a Guyana on the rampage. Putting their rivals in to bat, Bangladesh 'A' struggled for 340 runs to just break the first-wicket partnership. Azeemul Haniff made a massive 235, while fellow opener Sewnarine Chattergoon scored 143. Chattergoon fell first, but Haniff stuck around through a minor collapse to take Guyana to 456/5 declared in just 126 overs.

The visitors were always going to struggle to even save the game, and their first-innings collapse did not help. With leggie Mahendra Nagamootoo taking 4-45, Bangladesh 'A' fell for 184, a total out of which skipper Akram Khan made 72. Following on, they did even worse, Akram Khan's 42 being the only decent effort in a total of 129. Nagamootoo took four more wickets, but Haniff's double century bagged him the Man of the Match award.

The final match of the fourth round saw Windward Islands beat West Indies 'B' by seven wickets at Grenada. Winning the toss, Windwards put their rivals in to bat, and opening bowler Fernix Thomas took four wickets to ensure that they did not regret the decision. West Indies 'B' were bowled out for 211, and their bowlers then took some stick from Windwards bats Junior Murray, Kester Sylvester, Rawl Lewis. While Sylvester and Lewis made half-centuries, Murray hit 103, boosting his side's total to 356.

The reply from West Indies 'B', though strong, was not enough. Some energetic lower-order batting saw them reach 291 in their second innings, with C Hodge's 65 being the highest score. Windwards, then, were set a total of 147, and opener Kirsten Casimir hit an unbeaten 57 to lift his team to a seven-wicket victory. Murray's hundred got him the Man of the Match award.