KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC- Captain of beaten champions Jamaica, Tamar Lambert, said his team lost their Super50 semi-final to Windward Islands because of a significant drop in their run rate towards the end of their innings.
Windwards, who defeated Jamaica by five-wickets, went on to crush Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) in a lopsided final to become new champions of one-day cricket in the region.
On his return to Kingston from the Kensington Oval clash, Lambert said Jamaica should have posted a total in excess of 260, after being 173 for two in the 37th over.
“We did not bat the final 12 to 13 overs of our innings properly and that literally cost us the match,” said Lambert.
“The pitch was good to bat on and as demonstrated by (Brenton) Parchment and (Nkrumah) Bonner, if you put your head down; there were runs to be made. But somehow we did not push on and 240-odd runs on that wicket was always going to be close.”
Jamaica’s batting plummeted following the departure of Bonner (74) with the score on 169 and Parchment (86) two balls later with the score on 173.
Windward Islands cruised to victory at 244 for five with an over to spare after Jamaica made 242 for eight off their allotted 50 overs.
“It was just one of those days as throughout the campaign our bowlers have been bowling well and on that night they did not start off well,” said Lambert.
“And with the sort of form Smith is in, he simply cashed in and gave them the start that they wanted, which they eventually built on”.
Jamaica will turn their attention to their rescheduled Four-Day preliminary match against CCC, at Sabina Park, starting today.
