02:14
Bishop: ICC Americas not deep enough batting-wise
Imran Khan made the most of his first appearance of the tournament for Trinidad & Tobago, claiming 4 for 25 in a nine-wicket win over ICC Americas at Queen’s Park Oval to clinch a semi-final spot for the defending champions in the Nagico Super50. ICC Americas were rolled over for 81 after electing to bat at the toss. Srimantha Wijeratne top-scored for the second match in a row, making 30, while Timroy Allen was the only other player to cross into double-figures with 22 before he was last man out in the 26th over.
ICC Americas were already struggling at the end of the opening power play, having reached 24 for 3 at the 10-over mark, before a 25-run stand between Wijeratne and Alex Amsterdam briefly stymied the home side’s bowling attack. Amsterdam fell for 5 playing down the wrong line to Narsingh Deonarine to end the 17th and Khan entered the attack in the following over, needing four balls to trap Wijeratne in front to a ball that replays later showed pitched outside leg stump. However, Khan did not complain and proceeded to burrow through the rest of the middle and lower order.
T & T only needed 12.5 overs to track down the target and secure their fourth bonus point in four wins. Kyle Hope smashed 40 off 27 before an ungainly attempted slog against left-arm spinner Danial Ahmed brought about his demise in the 10th over. Kjorn Ottley and Denesh Ramdin saw the hosts the rest of the way, making an unbeaten 24 and 18 respectively. Ramdin clattered three consecutive boundaries in the 13th to finish the match.
Barbados came out on top of Jamaica by 73 runs in a pivotal rematch in Couva. Needing a win to have any hope of reaching the semi-final, Barbados posted 246 for 9 after being sent in. Dwayne Smith, who has had a barren run throughout the month of January, found form with 86 to kickstart Barbados at the top of the order. A vital 48 came in the middle order from Shane Dowrich to further boost Barbados before he was run out.
Jamaica captain John Campbell took 3 for 57 with the ball before coming out to open the chase and scoring 42 off 39 balls until he was stumped by Dowrich off Ashley Nurse. Three overs later, Nurse claimed Jermaine Blackwood and throughout the rest of the day Jamaica struggled against the Barbados spin attack.
The left-arm tandem of Sulieman Benn and Jomel Warrican shared five wickets between them as Andre McCarthy was the only batsman beyond the top three to pass 20. He made 33 before he fell to Warrican ending the 33rd over at 128 for 6. Jonathan Carter decimated the middle order with 3 for 26 as Jamaica were eventually bowled out for 173 in the 47th over.
The result means that a Barbados win over Trinidad & Tobago on Sunday will put Barbados in the semis. Jamaica needs a bonus point win over ICC Americas combined with a Barbados loss to be guaranteed of claiming the final semi-final slot. Jamaica is currently four points behind Barbados so could also qualify by scoring a win, and a Barbados loss, without needing a bonus point but would have to overtake Barbados on net run rate, as their current deficit in the tiebreaker stands at +0.109.
In Group B, Guyana clinched a semi-final berth with a seven-wicket win over Leeward Islands in Basseterre, a result that also knocked Leewards out of semi-final contention. Leewards made 172 after choosing to bat. Seven players reached double-figures, but only three batsmen passed 20 with a best of 35 coming from Rahkeem Cornwall in the lower order.
Vishaul Singh made 44 to start the chase, but it was Shivnarine Chanderpaul who once again top-scored against Leewards, this time with an unbeaten 57. He also shared an unbroken 57-run stand for the fourth wicket alongside Raymon Reifer as victory was secured with 22 balls to spare.
Combined Campuses and Colleges produced the shock result of the tournament so far, beating Windward Islands by 91 runs at Warner Park to hand each side their first win and loss respectively. However, Windwards still qualified for the semi-finals despite the loss thanks to Guyana’s win over Leewards.
CCC was in major strife at 27 for 6 as Delorn Johnson scythed through the top order, eventually ending with career-best List A figures of 6 for 37. Rovman Powell and Akeem Dewar added 93 for the seventh wicket to rescue CCC as Powell eventually made 71 in a team total of 157.
Remarkably, Powell managed to singlehandedly outscore Windwards, who were bowled out in reply for just 66. The batting collapsed so badly that extras wound up top-scoring in the innings with a total of 11. Chemar Holder claimed 5 for 22 as Windwards were routed in 22 overs.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo