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Andre McCarthy took six wickets including a hat-trick as the Jamaica Scorpions defeated the Barbados Pride by 51 runs at the Coolidge Cricket Ground and book a date with the Trinidad Red Force in the semi-finals of the CG Insurance Super50 on Wednesday.
Chasing 218 for victory, Barbados were cruising along at 118 for 1 but crumbled losing their last nine wickets for just 49 runs in what will go down as a famous victory for Jamaica.
Shai Hope and Justin Greaves put on an opening stand of 52 when Jamie Merchant broke the partnership with the wicket of Greaves for 36. Hope and Shamarh Brooks then added 66 for the second wicket when, with the score at 118, Brooks was run out for 27.
Hope carried on to a half-century while adding 23 with Johnathan Carter before he was caught by Brandon King off Fabien Allen for 51 and triggered a rot from which Barbados would never recover.
Allen then had Carter caught and bowled for 26 as Barbados reached 152 for 4, opening the door for McCarthy to take the next six wickets as Barbados collapsed to 167 all out.
After getting Jason Holder for one and Nicholas Kirton for 3 with the scores at 153 for 5 and 163 for 6, respectively, McCarthy dismissed Ashley Nurse for 2 and Akeem Jordan and Joshua Bishop in consecutive balls to have Barbados on the verge of defeat at 165 for 9.
He would bowl Chemar Holder for 2 with the first ball of his next over as Barbados fell for 167.
McCarthy finished with 6-16 from 9.1 overs and was rightly named Man of the Match. Allen took 2-41.
It was a match in which the bowlers rescued Jamaica with the ball and the bat.
Jamaica’s last two wickets added 131 runs that eventually got them to 218 all out from a precarious position after 24.2 overs of 87 for 8 after Bishop ripped through the Jamaican top order taking 5 for 35 from his 10 overs.
However, Odean Smith scored an unbeaten 68 from 75 balls and featured in an 80-run ninth-wicket partnership with Jamie Merchant who contributed an invaluable 37.
Smith and Jeavor Royal (16) then took Jamaica beyond 200 runs with a stand of 51 and onto what turned out to be a winning total.
Ashley Nurse took 2-51.
Jamaica finished their preliminary round in fourth place on eight points.
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South Africa fall short of another big run chase as Windies take series
West Indies avoided a repeat of their remarkable, record-breaking defeat in the second T20I against South Africa by clinging on to win the series decider by seven runs.
The Windies had been on the wrong end of a historic run chase in the sides' previous encounter, the highest scoring Twenty20 match since the format was introduced.
But there would be no repeat in Johannesburg on Tuesday, even if Reeza Hendricks again made life difficult for the tourists after another strong Windies score of 220-8.
Hendricks was credited by centurion Quinton de Kock with inspiring the Proteas fightback in the second match, having contributed 68 off just 28 balls.
Missing De Kock's support, it was a one-man effort this time as Hendricks scored 83 off 43, not quite enough with South Africa falling short on 213-6.
West Indies had posted the second-highest T20I total not to include a single fifty but were also themselves grateful for the work of one batter in particular.
In a blockbuster conclusion to the first innings, Romario Shepherd had scored 26 from the final over to top-score with 44 from only 22 balls – the knock that ultimately proved the difference.
Phenomenal finish sees Windies safe
South Africa handed the ball to Kagiso Rabada with some confidence ahead of the 20th over, with the bowling superstar having restricted the Windies to 2-24 from his previous three overs.
Yet Shepherd, twice put down by De Kock, smashed Rabada all around the ground to set a daunting target. As a result, the Proteas needed to match Shepherd with 26 off the last but could only manage 18.
Repeat proves beyond Proteas
While Hendricks remained in the middle, it appeared very possible South Africa would pull off another stunning recovery. It would have been a record-breaking fifth successful 200-run chase in the format.
However, West Indies kept their nerve, crucially having Hendricks caught by captain Rovman Powell at long on in the 19th over. The Windies still have not lost a T20I series in South Africa, with two wins and a draw.
Powell saves 5-year-old ball-boy from injury by avoiding boundary collision during second South Africa T20I
West Indies captain Rovman Powell got injured while trying to save a 5-year-old ball boy at the edge of the boundary area during the second T20 International against South Africa on Sunday, March 26.
Powell, while chasing a ball towards the boundary, avoided a potentially catastrophic collision and chose to get hurt himself.
The incident occurred in the third over of the South Africa chase when Quinton de Kock hit the ball towards the long off boundary.
Powell gave chase and was inside the dive length to pull the ball back into the field before it touched the boundary. The West Indies captain, however, saw a five-year-old ball boy trying to get to the edge of line and catch the ball and decided to abort the chase in the last minute.
The West Indies captain then jumped over the boy and the boundary line and crashed into the LED boards, before toppling over.
Visibly shaken from the incident, Powell had to be treated at the side-line and took a decent amount of time to get back into the field.
As for the game, South Africa won by six wickets after pulling off a record chase. The West Indies posted 258-5 off their 20 overs and the South Africans needed only 18.5 overs to reach 259-4.
The third T20I takes place at Wanderers in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
Harpy Eagles lead by 10.2 points ahead of final round of 2022/23 West Indies Championship
The Guyana Harpy Eagles will take a 10.2-point lead into their fifth and final round game of the 2022/23 West Indies Championship against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes at Providence.
The Harpy Eagles defeated the Jamaica Scorpions by 228 runs in round four for their third win to move to 68.2 points.
Second-placed Windward Islands Volcanoes kept pace with the Harpy Eagles at the top with a six-wicket win over the Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the Brian Lara Stadium to move to 58 points.
Their opponents in the final round will be third-placed Barbados Pride, who have 50 points after beating the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force by seven wickets at the Queen’s Park Oval. That game will take place at the same venue.
The points table is rounded out by the Hurricanes (41.4), the Red Force (28.6) and the Jamaica Scorpions (21.2). The Red Force will play the Scorpions at the Brian Lara Stadium in the final round.
All games start on Wednesday at 9:00am Jamaica Time (10:00 am ECT).
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