BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – It has been a long time coming, but Tamar Lambert hit his second first-class hundred to help front-runners Jamaica post a respectable 272 in their first innings in their 10th round match against Barbados in the WICB regional four-day competition yesterday.
The Jamaica captain batted a shade over six hours on the opening day of the match at Kensington Oval to post his highest score in 45 first-class matches, a purposeful 143 before he was the last man out.
At the close, Barbados were replying on 16 without loss with Dale Richards not out on six and Jason Haynes, their captain, not out on nine.
But Lambert held centre stage, when he reached his milestone from 230 balls with a sliced drive to third man off Kemar Roach for the 11th of his 15 fours. He also struck three sixes.
The burly Lambert had help from the buttery-fingered Barbados fielders, when they put him down three times before he had reached the landmark.
He was dropped before he had scored, when Kirk Edwards put him down at third slip off Corey Collymore, then Ryan Hinds muffed a sitter and square cover off Kevin Stoute when he was 43, before Barbados keeper Patrick Browne failed to hold a low chance to his right off Collymore when Lambert was on 96.
Lambert shared in two 80-run stands along the way with opener Brenton Parchment and left-hander Wavell Hinds which boosted the Jamaica total.
Parchment scored 43, and Hinds made 30, but no other Jamaican batsman could pass 20, as the visitors lost their last four wickets for 25 runs in the space of 49 balls.
Barbados’ most successful bowler was Stoute, bowling his steady, if not menacing medium-pace, with four wickets for 41 runs from 14 overs, and Ryan Hinds captured two for 55 from 20 overs.
Jamaica suffered an early setback, when Donovan Pagon was lbw to Javon Searles for one in the second over of the day.
But Lambert joined Parchment and they carried Jamaica to lunch on 84 for one before Stoute wobbled the visitors.
Parchment was caught at mid-on off the first ball after lunch, and West Indies batsman Brendan Nash was caught behind for a second-ball duck to leave Jamaica 84 for three.
Wavell Hinds came to the crease, spent a little over an hour, and stabilised the innings with Lambert, whose 50 came from 162 balls, when he gathered two off Dwayne Smith into the off-side.
Former West Indies left-hander Hinds looked untroubled in his knock before he was caught at backward point off Kemar Roach as Jamaica reached 172 for four at tea.
After tea, Jamaica wobbled again, when Dave Bernard Jr was caught at first slip off Collymore for 13, and Carlton Baugh Jr was lbw to Nikolai Charles for a five-ball duck.
Jamaica were 204 for six, but Nikita Miller joined Lambert and defied the Barbadians for close to an hour before he was lbw to Ryan Hinds for 13 to trigger the end-of-innings collapse.
Jamaica lead the standings with 72 points – 12 points clear of second-placed Windward Islands – and Barbados are third on 54 points.
