ONE MINUTE they were offering a spirited challenge. The next, they were going downhill.
In the space of 40 painful minutes yesterday evening, Barbados virtually said goodbye to the 2005-06 Carib Beer Challenge Trophy.
They need something extra special to deny Trinidad and Tobago an unprecedented double here today.
The Bajans, set 337 to win the five-day final, were given a satisfying start of 86 by openers Dale Richards and Wayne Blackman, but their work seemed to come to nought in the face of another of the collapses we have seen from this team in recent matches.
Four wickets for the addition of 13 runs, one to another piece of brainless cricket from Dwayne Smith, was a bitter pill for Barbados' supporters at Guaracara Park
In contrast, it created jubilant scenes among hometown fans who cheered on loudly and banged on advertising boards with great delight.
Like R. Kelly, the Trinis seemed to believe they could fly. And it was their R. Kelly who grabbed the spotlight amidst the Barbadian disappointment.
Barbados resume this morning on 110 for four, still 227 away from their unlikely pursuit, and heavily dependant on captain Ryan Hinds and debutant Kirk Edwards, who survived the final 35 minutes after the Trinidad and Tobago victory charge.
With Richards playing sweetly en route to 58, and Blackman solidly supporting with 25, Barbados were on good ground.
It suddenly became rough when Kelly, who had earlier frustrated them with a career-best 93, removed both Richards and Blackman within three runs of each other, and Floyd Reifer and Dwayne Smith followed without much of a contribution.
As Richards set aim on becoming the third batsman in the tournament to go past 500 runs, he was undone by a full-length ball from Kelly that trapped him
Blackman was knocked over by a similar ball that hit his stumps, and wily off-spinner Amit Jaggernauth also made a telling impact with the cheap scalps
of Reifer and Smith.
While there was some debate over whether Reifer was correctly given for a catch at silly point, there was more of an uproar when Smith gifted his hand for the fourth time in as many innings.
Needless to say, the leg-side boundaries were heavily protected, but Smith didn't even get that far.
To his seventh ball, he almost nonchalantly deposited a catch to mid-off which had been set a couple of yards deeper than the customary position. It was confirmation that Smith is no longer deserving of a place in the team at this moment.
With wickets falling faster than Ato Boldon running down a track, some Trinis were even contemplating the possibility of a victory with a day in reserve, but Hinds and Edwards batted through to stop the rout, although Edwards was badly mis-stumped by Denesh Ramdin.
While Ramdin, who also dropped Blackman, has not enjoyed a good catch either in front or behind the stumps, the same can't be said for his opposing number, Patrick Browne.
The Barbados gloveman completed four catches in the Trinidad and Tobago second innings, but the spotlight went to Kelly, who was chiefly responsible for the hosts crawling out of their wobbly 99 for five to make 266.
From his overnight 28, Kelly moved to 93 by showing a good mix of defence and aggression in a marvellous effort that lasted five hours and included 11 fours and a six.
When he was last out to a low catch at extra-cover by Smith, some of his family members, saddened by the 22-year-old's inability to go on to a maiden first-class century, were reduced to tears.
Barbados, however, were certain that when he was on 41 and 89 he had edged catches to the keeper off Pedro Collins. After the latter appeal was turned down, Collins, in his disbelief, ended up somewhere at cover-point flaring off his hands, with some justification on the evidence of the television replay.
On completion of the over, the umpires had a word with skipper Hinds and it won't be a surprise if at the end of the match one or two Bajans find themselves before the match referee.
In the morning session, Browne took a good catch to dismiss Rayad Emrit after a sixth-wicket partnership of 77 with Kelly, but the keeper made a rare mistake in the match when he floored a chance low to his left when Dave Mohammed was one.
It proved costly to some extent with Mohammed hanging around for an hour-and-a-half in tail-end resistance that saw the last three wickets adding 89.
* haydngill@nationnews.com