Upper hand to Bajans

Catches, they often say, win matches.

And after an uninspiring display with a series of misses in the first phase of the day, Barbados atoned in the evening session with four sharp catches that have made them firm favourites to secure first innings honours over Jamaica in their third-round Carib Beer Series match.

Another big crowd at the lovely North Stars ground in St Lucy would have been giving the hosts a tongue-lashing when they spilled four chances of varying difficulty.

However, they would have been singing their praises after tea when Floyd Reifer, Sherwin Campbell and Ian Bradshaw hauled in fine catches that decisively swung the battle for first innings points.

The evening session, in which Jamaica slipped from 186 for three an hour after tea to 224 for nine at the close, also produced further drama when fast bowler Tino Best was pulled out of the attack after sending down two waist-high full-tosses in successive overs.

Best was into a lively spell in which he removed Jamaica captain Robert Samuels compliments of Reifer's wonderful catch at first slip when he was required to dive low to his right.

The dismissal of Samuels started the slide in which Jamaica lost six wickets for 38 to knock down the platform that was built in successive partnerships of 73 and 64 that involved solid contributions from Brenton Parchment, Dave Bernard Jr and the lucky Keith Hibbert.

Let off on 12, 29 and 35, the Jamaican wicket-keeper fell in the middle of the collapse for a dogged 41 that stretched more than three hours.

After he departed, two excellent catches followed to transform the sad faces around the ground to happy ones.

Campbell did well to haul in a deflection off wicket-keeper Courtney Browne's pads to account for Gareth Breese, while Ian Bradshaw tumbled low on his follow-through to catch Mario Ventura, who failed to score in 37 minutes.

The drama wasn't over yet.

After Franklyn Rose swung Ryan Hurley over square-leg for six in fading light, he edged Ryan Hinds low to slip where Campbell took a low chance on the second attempt.

Rose, however, stood his ground showing his obvious disappointment at the verdict against him.

The umpires then offered Jamaica the option to go off at 5:51 p.m. because of the light, but Barbados seem certain to achieve first innings points early this morning with Jamaica still needing another 102 to overhaul Barbados' 325.

Jamaica were probably fancying their chances after half-centuries from Parchment and Bernard, both of whom played at this ground as members of the Jamaica youth team in 1999.

After the start was delayed by 50 minutes because of a brief shower at 9:15 a.m., Jamaica suffered an immediate setback when they lost Leon Garrick to the day's second ball.

The little opening batsman seemed dumbfounded when a ball from Sulieman Benn came off his inside edge and onto the stumps.

It was the only success of the morning session for the hosts, who should have claimed another wicket on the stroke on lunch, but Browne missed a relatively straightforward chance offered by Parchment off Hinds' second ball.

By then Parchment was growing in confidence and played some authentic strokes on the way to a solid half-century. Among them were sixes in successive overs off Hurley and Benn in the direction of mid-wicket and long-off.

The former West Indies youth captain also counted eight fours, including successive boundaries off Bradshaw, but gifted his wicket 15 minutes after lunch by flashing at a short ball from Best.

It didn't deserve a wicket, but Parchment edged it to the 'keeper after batting impressively for 59 in two-and-a-half hours.

After his dismissal, Browne sprang a series of bowling changes in the first 45 minutes after lunch when there were at least five switches.

One of those changes should have produced a wicket.

When Hurley was switched to the southern end, he induced Hibbert into skying an offering to mid-wicket. Both Best and substitute Randy Thomas were converging on the ball and Best, never settled, spilled the chance.

There was a much more difficult opportunity to remove Hibbert after tea, but no one could blame Philo Wallace for not holding on to a sharp chance at gully, and it was a similar situation when Browne missed a leg-side chance off the same batsman.

All the while, Bernard, who has been enjoying a good all-round season, moved on to his second half-century of the tournament before Hurley claimed him lbw for 53 that occupied four hours.

The fine catches then followed.

SCOREBOARD

BARBADOS 1st Innings 325

JAMAICA 1st Innings (overnight 31-0)

L. Garrick b Benn 19

B. Parchment c wk Browne b Best 59

D. Bernard lbw b Hinds 53

+K. Hibbert lbw b Hurley 41

*R. Samuels c Reifer b Best 8

M. Ventura c and b Bradshaw 0

G. Breese c Campbell b Hurley 8

N. Perry c and b Bradshaw 5

F. Rose c Campbell b Hinds 15

D. Powell not out 0

R. Cunningham not out 0

Extras (b4, lb3, w1, nb8) 16

TOTAL (9 wkts - 105.1 overs) 224

Fall of wickets: 1-31 (Garrick), 2-102 (Parchment), 3-161 (Bernard), 4-186 (Samuels), 5-189 (Hibbert), 6-202 (Breese), 7-202 (Ventura), 8-211 (Perry), 9-224 (Rose).

Bowling: Best 10-3-23-2 (nb2), Bradshaw 26-9-61-2 (w1, nb4), Hurley 26-4-68-2 (nb1), Benn 28-16-41-1, Hinds 6.1-3-5-2, Smith 9-4-19-0 (nb1).

Position: Jamaica need another 102 runs for first innings lead with one wicket in hand ahead of today's final day

Umpires: Clive Duncan (Guyana), Vincent Bullen (Barbados). Stand-by: Mervyn Jones (Barbados)

Match referee: Carl Brome