Crushing win puts Jamaica in semis

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

A brilliant all-round performance from Andre Russell, guided Jamaica to a 207-run win over the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) at Kensington Park yesterday, and into the semi-finals of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional 50-Over Tournament.

Russell, who at the weekend was named in the West Indies' 15-man squad for their tour of Sri Lanka next month, made a shot-filled 46 not out, then claimed two for 14 off two overs, and effected a run-out, as the CCC, asked to make 286 in their allotted 50-overs, were bowled out for 78.

Jamaica had earlier posted a challenging 285 for eight off their allotted overs.

Interestingly, the Jamaicans had started the day in the desperate and hopeful position of needing to beat the CCC by a huge margin, and then hope that back-to-back champions and favourites, Trinidad and Tobago, lose to the Windward Islands at Sabina Park. In a perfect scenario, both happened.

Opener Xavier Marshall, with 75 off 109 balls, and captain Chris Gayle, 72 off 73 balls, led the way for Jamaica.

Four massive sixes

The 22-year-old Russell, batting at number eight, then hit four massive sixes and two fours in his entertaining knock.

"The team needed to win and with net run rate potentially being a factor I told myself I was going to put my best foot forward. Thankfully, it came off with both the bat and ball, and also in the field," said Russell, who was named Man of the Match.

"It's now on to the semi-finals where we hope to put in a similar good display as we would really love to win the tournament," he added.

In addition to Russell, Jamaica had medium-pacer David Bernard Jr (3-33 off nine overs) and spinners Nikita Miller (2-8 off 6.1) and Odean Brown (2-3 off five) to thank for their outstanding display in the field.

The locals also earned a bonus point due to the magnitude of their triumph.

This moved them to seven points, one more than Trinidad and Tobago, which went down to a surprising eight-wicket defeat to the Windwards at Sabina Park, which effectively put an end to their title defence.

The Windwards, who are being led by newly appointed West Indies captain, Darren Sammy, topped the group with maximum 12 points from three matches and will play the runners-up of Group B in semi-final one on Thursday at Sabina Park.

Jamaica will play the winners of Group B in semi-final two at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium on Friday.

Winners and runners-up

The winners and runners-up of Group B will be known today following the final set of matches.

Group leaders Barbados, with maximum eight points, will play WICB/Sagicor High Performance Centre at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium, while second-place Leeward Islands will face off with Guyana at Sabina Park. Both games begin at 9 a.m.

The final is set for Sunday, also at Sabina Park.

"We had a very, very slim chance of making it to the semis, but we were always hopeful that things would work out in our favour," said a smiling Gayle.

"Having been given a lifeline we now want to make it even better by first advancing to the final and then winning the competition."

Romel Currency, captain of the CCC team, said Jamaica played excellent cricket and deserved to win the way they did.

"It was a very good performance on the part of Jamaica. They knew what they needed to do to stay alive and they went about their job in an efficient way. As for the CCC, it was a bad result and we will just have to learn from the experience."

"Having been given a lifeline we now want to make it even better"

JAMAICA

C Gayle c Moore b Hutchinson 72X Marshall c Bascombe b Wiggins 75D Hyatt c Parris Kantasingh 1B Nash c Bascombe b Nurse 19T Lambert c wk Walton b Moore 4+C Baugh c Moore b Austin 19D Bernard c Austin b Kantasingh 13A Russell not out 46N Miller c Parris b Moore 4O Brown not out 7

Extras (lb10, w14, nb1) 25

TOTAL (8 wkts, 50 overs) 285

Did not bat: K Santokie.

Fall of wickets: 1-138, 2-140, 3-175, 4-180, 5-199, 6-217, 7-230, 8-263.

Bowling: Kantasingh 10-0-60-2, Moore 10-1-52-2, Hutchinson 7-0-50-1, Austin 10-0-35-1, Nurse 9-0-57-1, Parris 1-0-7-0, Wiggins 3-0-14-1.

CCC

O Phillips c wkp Baugh b Russell 3M Bascombe c Nash b Brown 37M Nurse c Bernard b Russell 8N Parris c sub (H Miller) b Miller 4+C Walton c Russell b Bernard 1R Currency run out 0R Wiggins b Bernard 3R Austin b Bernard 0B Hutchinson b Brown 1G Moore c Bernard b Miller 16K Kantasingh not out 0

Extras (w5) 5

TOTAL (all out, 30.1 overs) 78

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-18, 3-41, 4-43, 5-44, 6-61, 7-61, 8-62, 9-66, 10-78.

Bowling: Santokie 6-1-20-0, Russell 4-0-14-2, Miller 6.1-2-8-2, Bernard 9-0-33-3, Brown 5-2-3-2.

Result: Jamaica won by 207 runs.

Points: Jamaica 5, CCC 0.

Toss: CCC.