McCarthy (right) celebrating with his teammates after completing his hat-trick against Barbados on Sunday.
Failing with the bat was all the motivation Andre McCarthy needed to inspire him to a match-winning performance with the ball against the Barbados Pride on Sunday.
In what was a must-win match for both teams, if they were to remain in the tournament, McCarthy stepped up for Jamaica taking career-best figures of 6-16 as Barbados, chasing 2019 for victory, crumbled to 167 all out.
Jamaica will now go onto play the unbeaten Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in the semi-final on Wednesday.
In a match that Jamaica’s bowlers provided the runs and the wickets, McCarthy, a senior middle-order batsman, failed to deliver with the bat, bowled by Joshua Bishop for a duck after facing just five balls. It was during a spell when Jamaica’s first five batsmen fell for just 35 runs within the first nine overs of their innings.
But while the Scorpions’ batsmen struggled, they found a sting in their tail in the form of an unbeaten 68 by Odean Smith, who while producing his career-best List A score, helped Jamaica’s last two wickets put on 131 runs.
Jamie Merchant’s 37 and Jeavor Royal’ 16 also contributed to the significant wag in the Scorpions’ tail.
However, for McCarthy, not being able to deliver with the bat, spurred his belief that he had to contribute to the team’s chances of getting to the semi-finals.
“I’m one of the senior players in this team and have to give a big performance. I didn’t make any runs so I knew I had to contribute with something in the game. I told the skipper ‘give me the ball and I am going to do the job for you today,” McCarthy said after the victory.
“I’ve been working really hard on my bowling. I was in Bangladesh with the West Indies team and I was doing a lot of bowling. The coach really recognized my bowling and it’s something that is working for me now.”
Despite winning the man of the match award for his six-wicket haul that featured a game-changing hat-trick in his ninth over, McCarthy said he thrived on the backing of his teammates.
“It’s overwhelming and just a full team effort, everyone believed in me and I just went out there and did the job,” he said.
“I normally keep it tight as a bowler and knew once I did that on this surface, the wickets would come. When I bowled to their batsmen they were tentative, so I just applied the pressure.”
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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).
"It allowed me to do some soul-searching"- Charles sees focusing on the basics as key to T20I re-emergence after six-year hiatus
South Africa and the West Indies played one of the most amazing games of cricket you will ever see at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Sunday.
In the second of three T20Is, the two teams combined for a record 517 runs including 81 boundaries and 35 sixes as the hosts needed just 18.5 overs to chase down a mammoth 258 set by the West Indies.
The catalyst behind the West Indies’ massive total was an innings from top-order batsman Johnson Charles that can only be described as special.
The 34-year-old right-hander, batting at number three, eclipsed Chris Gayle’s record for fastest T20I hundred for the West Indies, 47 balls against England at the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup, when he brought up his maiden T20I century off just 39 balls.
Charles eventually made 118 off 46 balls including 10 fours and 11 sixes. He said the key to his innings was understanding the conditions.
“You know as a batsman, with such a good pitch and such a small ground, that you don’t have to over-hit the ball. I think that was one of the key points that all the batsmen had in the back of their minds,” he said in a press conference after the game.
This continues a remarkable career resurgence for the St. Lucian, who was a member of the victorious West Indian sides at the 2012 and 2016 ICC T20 World Cups.
After representing the regional side in a three-match T20I series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in 2016, Charles was dropped, with many writing him off completely.
“I think being out of the T20 side for six years definitely allowed me to do some soul searching and see where I’ve been going wrong,” Charles said.
After six years on the outside looking in, Charles finally got a second chance to don the West Indian colors when he was, surprisingly to many, selected for the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup in Australia after an excellent 2022 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) which saw him finish as the third-highest run-scorer with 345 runs in nine innings, including four fifties.
Charles played two games at the World Cup and recorded scores of 45 and 22 against Zimbabwe and Ireland, respectively.
Earlier this year, he played an integral role in leading the Comilla Victorians to their fourth Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) title, making 308 runs in nine innings, including a century and a fifty.
“I’ve gone back to the basics,” was Charles’ response to questions about how he has revived his batting.
“I made sure I have those down pat. Just coming back, it’s worked for me and, going forward, I’m just going to have to make sure that I keep focusing on the basics. If I continue doing that then I’ll keep on having great innings,” Charles added.
Hopefully, Charles can continue this form when the West indies take on the South Africans in the decisive third T20I at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
Proteas recall Bavuma and Nortje for Netherlands ODI series
Temba Bavuma and Anrich Nortje have been recalled to South Africa's ODI squad for the upcoming series with the Netherlands.
Captain Bavuma was rested while pace bowler Nortje was injured for the final ODI against West Indies last week as South Africa levelled the series with a four-wicket victory.
But the pair will return for the two-match series with the Netherlands, which gets underway on Friday in Benoni, as South Africa look to boost their chances of reaching the World Cup in India later this year.
South Africa will seal their place at the tournament if they win the Netherlands series. If they fail to do so, however, they will be forced into a qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe in order to reach the World Cup.
The Proteas are riding the crest of a wave after a stunning six-wicket T20I win over West Indies on Sunday, recording the highest successful run chase in the format's history as Quinton de Kock's brilliant century saw them chase down 259.
After their first meeting in Benoni, South Africa and the Netherlands will renew acquaintances at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on April 2.
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