A SCINTILLATING DISPLAY of six-hitting by Dwayne Smith and a first-over triple strike by Javon Scantlebury-Searles enroute to four cheap wickets gave Barbados a 33-run victory over Canada by the Duckworth-Lewis Method in a rain-ruined Caribbean Twenty20 cricket match at Kensington Oval on Wednesday night.
Smith entertained a 3 000-strong crowd with a sparkling 66, studded with six sixes and three fours, off 40 balls as he noticeably cut out the dreaded cross-batted shots and played some superb straight shots.
But his dismissal at 100 for three after 13 overs triggered a middle- and lower-order meltdown as Barbados only got a further 39 runs in the last seven overs to finish on an unsatisfactory 139 for seven.
That that total still proved to be adequate was chiefly due to Scantlebury-Searles.
The pacer ripped the heart out of the Canada batting, leaving them in strife on 29 for five in six overs when a heavy shower at 11:20 p.m. prematurely ended play. The match was officially abandoned at around midnight.
The victory carried Barbados to eight points from three matches ahead of their crucial final group game against arch-rivals Trinidad and Tobago tonight.
Scantlebury-Searles, the gangling Empire pacer, ended with four wickets for five runs in three overs.
Tino Best took the other Canadian wicket for 23 runs, nine of which were wides.
Watched by the West Indies selectors, who unceremoniously not only dropped him after an injudicious shot against Zimbabwe, but ignored him for the rest of last year, despite encouraging performances in the One-Day series against World Cup champions Australia, Smith had dominated an opening stand of 64 in 9.2 overs.
His partner was the pedestrian Kirk Edwards – named as a World Cup reserve – who made 15 off 25 balls without hitting a boundary.
The enigmatic Smith launched his onslaught on the Canadian bowling with an effortless six over long-off in seamer Rizwan Cheema’s first over.
Khurram Chohan, who had started with a maiden over, was then pulled for four and hoisted into the 3Ws Stand, at long on, for six.
He began the sixth over with a straight six off left-arm spinner Parth Desai and when Cheema was switched to the northern Joel Garner End, Smith deposited him twice for sixes into the 3Ws Stand.
After Edwards softly patted back a return catch to Desai, much to the delight of the spectators, Smith brought up his 50 off 34 balls with a savage straight drive for four off left-arm spinner Hiral Patel.
He then lashed a full toss from Patel for his sixth six over long-on before executing the shot of the match, a classic cover drive which scorched the grass as it sped past Ruvindu Gunasekera, in the sweeper position on the extra-cover boundary.
But after Smith was caught by Khurram Chohan off Jimmy Hansra, who was Canada’s most successful bowler with three for 22, Alcindo Holder was the only other batsman to reach double figures with 19 off 17 balls.
Captain Ryan Hinds, batting at No .3, was bowled by Hansra for two, while Holder got the other six of the innings before he was dismissed.
Thereafter, only Carlo Morris, who had his stumps shattered by Patel, managed a boundary, as Hansra also bowled Jonathan Carter, who attempted an unnecessary reverse sweep at the start of the 15th over.
Scantlebury-Searles and Holder were both bowled with full tosses from Chohan, leaving Ashley Nurse and Sulieman Benn to eke out 14 runs off the last 15 deliveries without either getting a boundary.
In reply, the first five Canadian batsmen dismissed – Hiral Patel, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Nitish Kumar, captain Ashish Bagai and Tyson Gordon – all fell for “ducks” as they slumped to 15 for five in four overs.
SCOREBOARD:
Barbados vs Canada
Barbados
D. Smith c Chohan b Hansra 66
K. Edwards c and b Desai 15
*R. Hinds b Hansra 2
A. Holder b Chohan 19
J. Carter b Hansra 6
+C. Morris b Patel 6
J. Scantlebury-Searles b Chohan 2
A. Nurse not out 9
S. Benn not out 4
Extras (b1, lb4, w5) 10
TOTAL (7 wkts – 20 overs) 139
Fall of wickets: 1-64 (Edwards, 9.2), 2-68 (Hinds, 10.4), 3-100 (Smith, 13), 4-107 (Carter, 14.1), 5-120 (Morris), 6-124 (Scantlebury-Searles, 17.1), 7-125 (Holder, 17.3).
Did not bat: T. Best, K. Roach.
Bowling: Chohan 4-1-20-2, Cheema 2-0-23-0, Desai 4-0-24-1, Baidwan 4-0-15-0, Hansra 3-0-22-3 (w3), Patel 3-0-30-1 (w1).
Canada
H. Patel c Smith b Scantlebury-Searles 0
N. Kumar c wk Morris b Scantlebury-Searles 0
R. Gunasekera c Nurse b Scantlebury-Searles 0
Z. Surkari not out 11
*+A. Bagai b Best 0
T. Gordon c Nurse b Scantlebury-Searles 0
J. Hansra not out 8
Extras (b1, w9) 10
TOTAL (5 wkts – 6 overs) 29
Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Patel), 2-3 (Gunasekera, 1.4), 3-3 (Kumar, 1.6), 4-14 (Bagai, 3), 5-15 (Gordon, 4).
Did not bat: P. Desai, R. Cheema, K. Chohan, H. Baidwan.
Bowling: Best 3-0-23-1 (w9), Scantlebury-Searles 3-1-5-4.
Result: Barbados won by 33 runs (Duckworth/Lewis Method)
Toss: Canada
Man Of The Match: Javon Scantlebury-Searles.
Umpires: Goaland Greaves, Peter Nero
Match referee: Adrian Griffith
CCC vs Somerset
SOMERSET
P. Trego c Currency b Moore 2
N. Compton c wk Walton b Bonner 44
J. Hildreth not out 69
+J. Butler c Bascombe b McClean 9
A. Suppiah c Perkins b Currency 4
C. Meschede not out 26
Extras (lb3, w6, nb2) 11
TOTAL (4 wkts – 20 overs) 165
Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Trego, 0.5), 2-95 (Compton, 12.2), 3-116 (15.3), 4-122 (Suppiah, 16.4).
Did not bat: *A. Thomas, G. Hussain,
M. Waller, S. Kirby, G. Dockrell.
Bowling: Moore 3-0-33-1 (w3),
Austin 3-0-18-0, McClean 4-0-30-1 (nb1, w1), Bonner 4-0-34-1 (nb1), Wiggins 2-0-17-0, Nurse 2-0-18-0, Currency 2-0-12-1.
CCC
*R. Currency c Dockrell b Hussain 15
M. Bascombe c Meschede b Kirby 11
W. Perkins c Hussain b Kirby 7
M. Nurse stp Butler b Waller 2
F. Reifer c Hildreth b Dockrell 13
R. Wiggins c Waller b Kirby 21
N. Bonner stp Butler b Dockrell 14
+C. Walton not out 24
K. McClean not out 4
Extras (b1, lb5, w5, nb1) 12
TOTAL (7 wkts – 20 overs) 123
Fall of wickets: 1-18 (Bascombe 2,5), 2-33 (Perkins, 4.4), 3-39 (Nurse, 6.2), 4-41 (Currency, 7.1), 5-57 (Reifer, 9.5), 6-84 (Bonner, 13.4), 7-98 (Wiggins, 16.4).
Did not bat: G. Moore, R. Austin.
Bowling: Thomas 4-0-30-0 (w3), Hussain 4-0-22-1, Kirby 4-0-26-3 (nb1, w2), Waller 4-0-25-1, Dockrell 4-0-15-2.
Toss: Somerset.
Result: Somerset won by 42 runs.
Umpires: Billy Doctrove, Joel Wilson
