ST AUGUSTINE, Trinidad, CMC – Zachary McCaskie’s maiden List A hundred fired Barbados Pride to a convincing 48-run victory over Combined Campuses and Colleges, as they further strengthened their bid for a final four spot in the Regional Super50 Cup.
In a competitive affair at the Frank Memorial Ground here yesterday, Pride rattled up 314 for seven off their 50 overs – their highest total of the campaign – with the right-handed McCaskie top-scoring with 131 from 116 deliveries.
The 26-year-old lashed 13 fours and four sixes, bringing up triple figures off 94 balls in the 32nd over with a boundary off off-spinner Shatrughan Rambaran.
Shamarh Brooks struck 65 off 66 balls with four fours and a couple of sixes, while captain Shai Hope’s 19-ball 32 and opener Kraigg Brathwaite’s 32, helped push Pride past the 300-run mark.
Facing a tall order, CCC slumped to 39 for three in the ninth over before captain Shane Dowrich came to their rescue with a counter-attacking 86 off 84 balls.
However, despite Dowrich’s knock coupled with a 45-ball 50 from teenaged left-hander Jordan Johnson and 41 off 62 balls from Demario Richards, CCC came up short to be 266 all out in the 46th over.
The win for Pride came in the wake of their 56-run defeat to Guyana Harpy Eagles last Sunday, and was their third in five outings.
CCC, meanwhile, entering the contest second in the standings, tasted their second defeat in six matches.
Through McCaskie’s enterprise, Pride received a superb start. He dominated a 108-run stand with Brathwaite before adding a further 116 for the second wicket with Brooks, as Pride rocketed to 224 for one in the 37th over.
When McCaskie perished, bowled by pacer Chemar Holder, Brooks and Hope put on 42 off 43 balls for the third wicket, before Roshon Primus (22) and Roston Chase (3) saw Pride past 300 in a 27-run, sixth wicket partnership off 17 deliveries.
Left-arm seamer Dominic Drakes (2-31) then shocked CCC, knocking over the free-scoring Kadeem Alleyne (22) and Rambaran (1), as Pride took control of the contest early on.
Dowrich, already with a hundred in the tournament, arrived at number five to inspire two exhilarating half-century stands to ensure CCC made a game of it.
The right-handed former Test gloveman lashed five fours and three sixes, posting 84 for the fourth wicket with Richards who counted a four and two sixes, before adding a further 95 for the fifth wicket with Jamaican Johnson who belted two fours and two sixes.
Dowrich’s run out in the 39th over changed the complexion of the game, however, off-spinner Chase (3-56) then making key strikes as CCC collapsed to lose their last six wickets for 48 runs.
