Barbados Pride had lost their first three matches before already had a better net run rate (NRR) than Leeward Islands Hurricanes (Won 1, Lost 2) before comprehensively beating Windward Islands Volcanoes by 173 runs on Thursday (Feb 18, 2021) in the CG Insurance Super50. In the face of Barbados Pride’s 286/8 (50 overs) Windward Islands Volcanoes spluttered to 113 all out after 34.4 overs The win moves Barbados to 1 win and 3 losses and gave a boost to their NRR.
So today’s game between the Leeward Islands Hurricanes (Won 1, Lost 3) and Jamaica Scorpions (Won 0, Lost 3) at the Sir Viv Richards Stadium features the two teams currently at the foot of the round-robin standings.
Meanwhile, Trinidad & Tobago Red Pride (W 4, L 0) and Guyana Amazons (W 3, L 0) are both assured of a top four spot in the round robin and a berth in the playoffs.
The other four teams each have a chance of making the semi-final playoffs, even Jamaica Scorpions who have yet to win a game! The Scorpions would need to win today against the Hurricanes then beat Barbados Pride on Sunday (Feb 21) to have any chance of reaching the semi-finals. The Scorpions would likely need to win by some big margins to advance to the playoffs. In a nutshell, today’s game is a “must win” for both teams.
Pride’s Bigger Total Was in Loss to the Hurricanes
Thursday’s 286/8 was Barbados Pride’s second highest total of the tournament. Pride had reached the heights of 301/8 (50 ovs) in the loss when Leeward Islands Hurricanes squeezed to victory at 305/6 (49.3 ovs) with 3 balls to spare. That was the game where Keacy Carty and Canada’s Nitish Kumar added 98 for the Hurricanes third wicket. Nitish was out for 41 bur Keacy Carty went on to make 123*.
Shai Hope returned to the Barbados Pride squad on Thursday as an injury replacement after originally having had to drop out of the tournament due to a COVID-19 infection. Hope made 16 opening the innings, a relatively small number but the other early batters each made useful contributions. Opening bat Jason Greaves struck 76, Shamarh Brooks 61 and Jonathan Carter 49.
Andre Fletcher (34) and Sunil Ambris (26) were making steady progress for the Volcanoes, adding 35 for the second wicket before right-arm pacer Akeem Jordan had Fletcher caught with 60 on the board. Jordan also removed Ambris in his game changing effort that brought him 5 wickets for 26 runs from 10 overs.
Remaining Round-Robin Games
The top two in the standings meet on Saturday (Feb 20) when Guyana Amazons take on Trinidad and Tobago Red Pride at Coolidge. Barbados Pride face Jamaica Scorpions on Sunday (Feb 21) at Coolidge then the round-robin concludes on Monday (Feb 22) when Windward Islands
Volcanoes and Guyana Amazons met at Sir Viv Richards Stadium.
Eddie Norfolk, Toronto, February 19, 2021