By Ravendra Kishore
On an Uitvlugt Community Development centre ground suited for spin bowling the Leeward Islands overwhelmed the Windward Island to secure their semi-finals spot and send their opponents packing.
Batting first, the Leewards were all out for 172 in 48.4 overs.
However their bowlers put a stranglehold on the Windward Islands batsmen who succumbed to accurate bowling to be out for 102 in 43.2 overs.
Windwards spinner Dennis George wrote his name into the regional one-day record books with the 3-7 off 10 overs four of which were maidens.
George, who came on as the second change bowler, extracted tremendous spin from the Uitvlugt track and tied up the Leewards batsmen.
He equalled the record of Trinidadian leg-break/googly bowler Harold Joseph for the most economical figures in a one day match, record set by Joseph
in 1981 in the Geddes Grant Cup.
Leewards skipper Runako Morton won the toss and elected to bat and found themselves in trouble immediately thanks to opening bowler Darren Sammy.
Sammy sent back opener Kieran Powell who was caught behind with a delivery that nipped away from the batsman who was already into the stroke.
Austin Richards jnr., was caught at first slip by Devon Smith off George for a run-a-ball 37.
He struck six fours and added 56 runs for the second wicket with Morton. His dismissal triggered a collapse as within the space eight runs, three more batsmen had made their way back to the pavilion.
Omari Banks was caught by Devon Smith off Liam Sebastien for 01; Orlando Peters was caught by George also off Sebastien for 01 and Wilden Cornwall was caught by wicket-keeper Johnson Charles off George for 04 as the Leewards slipped to 67-5 in the 16th over.
Morton was sixth out bowled by George for 36 from 74 balls with three boundaries while wicketkeeper Devon Thomas and Justin Athanaze added 59 runs for the eight wicket.
Thomas, after playing a cultured innings with a solitary boundary scored 35 from 91 balls.
Support for George came from Sebastien 3-45, while Bobb, Lewis and Sammy took a wicket each.
In the seven overs Windwards batted before lunch, they lost opener Devon Smith who edged a Gavin Tonge delivery to wicketkeeper Thomas while Miles Bascombe skied a ball to short mid wicket where Tonge ran in and dived forward to take the return catch one handed. At lunch the Windwards were 22-2 with Jonathan Charles on 15 and Kevin James on one.
Upon resumption, Charles was caught behind off Tonge and when the experienced Sammy was caught by Richards off Omari Banks for 13 the writing was on the wall.
Bobb and Shane Shillingford added 22 runs for the seventh wicket with Bobb eventually going for 30 caught by Cornwall of Tonge.
The ninth wicket pair added 16 runs to see the Windwards past three figures after they were 86-9 and the innings eventually folded for 102.
Tonge captured 4-44 while Anthony Martin had 3-25 and Banks 2-13. The Leewards picked up a bonus point to end on 16 points. They will meet Barbados in the second semi-final on Saturday at the Providence National Stadium in a second day/night encounter which starts at 13:30 hours.
Trinidad and Tobago also ended on 16 points but had a superior net run rate will play defending champions Jamaica tomorrow in the first day/night semi-final.
