NORTH SOUND, Antigua, CMC – Marlon Samuels said he hopes to inspire Jamaica to victory in the Caribbean Twenty20 tournament this year with another strong batting performance.
The 31-year-old Samuels earned the Man-of-the-Match award, when he stroked a brilliant 66 not out from 52 balls to lead the Jamaicans to a tense, two-wicket victory over Combined Campuses & Colleges in the tournament on Tuesday at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.
“Last year, I made the most runs and we did not win the tournament,” he said. “This year, I want to double that – get the most runs, go into the Finals in Barbados, and win it all for Jamaica.”
The Jamaicans looked in danger of defeat, when they slumped to 106 for eight with 11 balls remaining.
Samuels however, drew on all of his experience, taking charge to usher his side over the finish line with three balls left.
“I never panicked,” said Samuels. “It looked like a difficult situation to most people, but I never panicked.
“What I wanted was someone to stay there with me and look to rotate the strike, but that did not happen. So, when it came down to the end, I knew I had to finish the job for my team. I backed myself to play the big shots and we got a good victory.”
Samuels formalised the result with a towering six over long-off and into the second deck of the grand stand at the southern end of the ground off little-known medium-fast bowler Herman Henry, a Jamaican all-rounder playing for the CCC.
“This is the first match for us this year and the first time on this pitch,” he said. “[The pitch] is a bit slower than what we got when we were here last year, so we will go back and do an assessment of this match and see where we need to get better.”
Samuels also praised CCC wicketkeeper/batsman Chadwick Walton, another Jamaican on the “wrong side”, who hit a career-best 66 off 59 balls.
“It was a wonderful innings by Chadwick for CCC,” said Samuels. “He did not carry on however, and we got his wicket at a vital stage in the match.
“It was a good bowling performance by the Jamaica bowlers, a wonderful comeback which kept us in the game.”
The victory gave Jamaica four points and took them to the top of Group B alongside Sussex Sharks, who earlier in the day beat Netherlands by 34 runs.