BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Both Windward Islands and Combined Campuses and Colleges will enter today’s final of the Regional Super50, driven by the desire to end a recent history of underachievement.
The Windwards have not won a title in 13 years while the CCC are yet to find silverware in the six years of their existence. This, however, will all change when they meet in the day/night affair at Kensington Oval.
Rain could play a role in the outcome, though, as occasional scattered showers have been forecast for today, and organisers along with both camps will be keeping an anxious watch on the skies.
Windward Islands have had an outstanding season, reaching not only the final of the Super50 but the semi-finals of the Regional Four-Day Championship.
They finished third in the standings to book their place in the final four before producing a composed performance to easily trounce defending champions Jamaica by five wickets with an over to spare on Friday night.
After several years of coming close since their 2000 triumph, Windwards captain Liam Sebastien said his lads were ready to end their drought.
“It is the first final for this particular group. It think it is only [one or two] guys who were in the winning team in 2000 so it is basically a new team and a final for most of the guys,” Sebastien pointed out.
“We have been getting to the semi-final over the years and always losing so we’ve gotten a step further. We don’t want to stop here, we want to go all the way in the final and win the competition.”
Having watched CCC’s demolition of tournament favourites Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday night, Sebastien assured that the Windwards would be taking nothing for granted against the students.
“We’ve played them many times before and we’re not going to take them lightly,” he said.
“Obviously we saw what they did with Trinidad, they humiliated Trinidad so obviously they have some pedigree and they have some good players in their team [so] we’re not going to underestimate CCC.”
Key to any Windwards victory will be their talisman opener Devon Smith whose 59 against Jamaica helped set the stage for the eventual result. The left-hander has scored heavily in both tournaments and all eyes will be on him again.
West Indies one-day opener Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher and Keddy Lesporis, Tyrone Theophile along with Sebastien, are expected to play supporting roles in the batting department.
Their attack will be spearheaded by Test off-spinner Shane Shillingford but left-arm seamers Delorn Johnson and Kenroy Peters, along with Sebastien’s off-spin, can help turn the tables.
Sebastien said he was expecting a thrilling final and stressed the Windwards would be giving it their all.
“It’s a great cricket wicket and a great outfield and just a great atmosphere for a final. Playing at Kensington Oval, there is no better place to do that,” he pointed out.
“They say Kensington is the Mecca of cricket in the West Indies so we’re hoping on Sunday we can lift the trophy. Having said that, we’re not going to play against ourselves, we have to play against CCC and we have to start from ball one with the plans that we have.”
Almost unnoticed, CCC have negotiated their way through the competition and would not have been on the radar of most pundits to reach the final.
In fact, they finished tied with Barbados for fourth at the end of the preliminaries and only advanced because they beat their neighbours in the head-to-head contest.
Their clinical annihilation of T&T by 140 runs in the first semi-final got the attention of many and captain Kyle Corbin is confident his side can take the top honours.
“Once we stick to ‘our cricket’ and play the cricket we know we can we will be alright,” said Corbin.
“We have what we call the ‘CCC brand of cricket’ and it has worked well for us. We play as a team and always look do what is required for the team.”
Against T&T, they made 232 with 19-year-old opener Anthony Alleyne getting 99 in only his second regional one-day match. They then bowled and fielded brilliantly to cripple T&T.
Fast bowler Kesrick Williams, with just a handful of games behind him, ripped out the top order with a three-wicket haul while left-arm seamer Raymon Reifer and leg-spinner Akeem Dewar, both still age 21, collected two wickets apiece in lethal spells.
There were also three brilliant run outs.
This type of all-round performance, Corbin stressed, was the DNA of the CCC side.
“We don’t have what people will call ‘stars’, but we are very focussed on fitness, preparation and readiness for every match and every situation we find ourselves in every match,” the top order batsman noted.
“To be in the Grand Final at the historic Kensington Oval is a ‘big thing’ for everyone in the team – the players, the support staff, as well as our fans. We will play it how we know and look to stick to our plans.”
SQUADS:
CCC – Kyle Corbin (captain), Chadwick Walton (wicketkeeper), Anthony Alleyne, Nekoli Parris, Floyd Reifer, Raymon Reifer, Shacaya Thomas, Nicholas Alexis, Ryan Austin, Marques Clarke, Akeem Dewar, Kevin McClean, Kesrick Williams.
WINDWARDS – Liam Sebastien (captain), Devon Smith, Tyrone Theopille, Johnson Charles (wicket-keeper), Andre Fletcher (wicket-keeper), Alston Bobb, Dawnley Grant, Delorn Johnson, Keddy Lesporis, Kenroy Peters, Dalton Polius, Shane Shillingford, Mervin Wells
UMPIRES: Joel Wilson, Gregory Brathwaite; TV – Nigel Duguid.
