Zone 2 Scramble In Red Stripe Bowl (11 October 1998)

11 October 1998

Zone 2 Scramble In Red Stripe Bowl

by Haydn Gill

The stage is set for a fascinating climax to Zone 2 of the Red Stripe Bowl.

And cock-a-hoop Barbados go into their contest against hosts Jamaica today with a close eye on three things: the opposition, calculators and a Sabina Park pitch which is hosting only its second major match since the fiasco of the January Test match that was abandoned because of a dangerous pitch.

The grand finale was set up by a tension-filled win by defending champions Leeward islands over Jamaica at the same venue yesterday.

Had the Leewards lost, they would have surrendered their title and Barbados and Jamaica would have been confirmed for next weekend's "Final Four".

Up against it for most of the match, the Leewards gallantly fought back to beat Jamaica by 15 runs before a fair-sized crowd.

Both Barbados and the Leewards are on four points, and a win for Jamaica today would produce a three-way tie.

If that's the case, officials would turn to their calculators to determine the two teams with the best net run-rate. Barbados have a superior net run rate of 1.34, the Leewards 1.21 and Jamaica 1.04.

A victory for Barbados would eliminate Jamaica and earn Philo Wallace's team top spot in the zone and the right to meet Trinidad and Tobago or Guyana in the semifinals. Barbados would have to lose by a big margin not to advance.

When everyone turned up at the ground yesterday, the two big questions on their minds were would the Leewards keep alive their hopes? and how would the Sabina pitch behave in its first real test since the infamous Test match?

It played a trifle slow, offered generous turn for the spinners and a couple of balls kept low. However, one of the game's most respected commentators gave it a passing grade.

Michael Holding, the former West Indies fast bowler, said the surface offered encouragement ahead of next season's Test against Australia.

"I don't think too many people would be dissatisfied with what they have seen here today," Holding told SunSport.

"A couple of balls did keep low, but it's a brand new pitch. You will find things like that. As soon as it gets a lot more rolling and the soil settles down a lot better, I'm sure it will play very well.

"The spinners would be happy with the response they got, but again - because it is a new pitch, you should expect that. If it gets a bit harder as time goes on, the spinners should not get as much assistance."

Today's match between Jamaica and Barbados should give a better assessment of the pitch, Holding added.

Barbados, the most consistent team in the zone following impressive victories over the Leewards and United States, had the day off yesterday.

Those two wins were centred around captain Philo Wallace's forthright hitting in innings of 62 off 57 balls and an unbeaten 104, accurate bowling and occasionally brilliant fielding.

Wallace, however, said there was an area that needed to be worked on.

"We have improved a bit, but we need to improve more on our catching. We cannot afford to drop catches against Jamaica," he said.

"We're not going to underestimate them. We're going to play them just as hard. We're going to play them like it's a first game that we need to win."

Both Adrian Griffith and Hendy Broomes are certain to return to the Barbados XI in place of Ricky Hoyte and Patterson Thompson, and teenaged all-rounder Antonio Mayers could challenge Pedro Collins for a place.

Barbados: Philo Wallace (captain), Sherwin Campbell, Adrian Griffith, Roland Holder, Floyd Reifer, Courtney Browne, Ryan Hinds, Antonio Mayers, Winston Reid, Hendy Bryan, Hendy Broomes, Pedro Collins, Patterson Thompson, Ricky Hoyte.

Jamaica: Jimmy Adams (captain), Robert Samuels, Raymond Fergusson, Chris Gayle, Wavel Hinds, Tony Powell, Laurie Williams, Nehemiah Pery, Brian Murphy, Andre Coley, Franklyn Rose, Kirk Powell, Howard Harris, Ryan Cunningham.

Source :: The Barbados Nation (https://www.nationnews.com/)