Jamaica crush Leewards to end campaign nicely

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Jamaica made light work of the Leewards Islands to end their WICB Regional Under-19 One-Day campaign on a high yesterday.

Playing at Everest, Jamaica dismissed Leewards for 83 and then motored to 84 for three off 14.3 overs to win by seven wickets.

The Leewards struggled so badly that their innings lasted just 27 overs and came to a halt with a whopping 138 balls unused, with the one-sided affair ending 10 minutes before the scheduled lunch break.

John Campbell, who stood in as captain for Donovan Nelson, enjoyed another good game in the yellow Jamaica jersey. The powerful left-hander played some stunning strokes in 58 not out from just 53 balls to showcase his dominance.

Earlier, he held a good head-high catch at second slip and took two wickets for seven runs with his off-breaks to bring a swift end to the Leewards innings. Jamaica’s best bower was again left-arm spinner Fabien Allen (3-16) while six-foot-six-inch paceman James McDonald took two for nine with the new ball.

The good bowling effort was started with the first ball of the match – a superb out-swinger by Marquino Mindley which Shaquille Martina snicked to the alert Campbell. From there it was procession to and from the batting crease as the Leewards never got into the game.

The win was Jamaica’s second in the limited-overs format after they were dominant in winning the three-day tournament. On the other hand, the Leewards were condemned to their fifth consecutive defeat and ended a dismal campaign without a win in both the three-day and one-day competitions.

It was the lowest score of the tournament for the Leewards and followed up other poor offerings of 121 against Guyana; 141 against Trinidad and Tobago; 146 against the Windwards; and 166 against champs Barbados.