BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Listless Trinidad and Tobago slumped to a heavy innings and 22-run loss in the Regional Four-Day final, to hand Barbados their 21st first class title here yesterday.
Starting the penultimate day at Kensington Oval on 140 for four and requiring nothing short of a miracle to stay alive in the contest, T&T folded meekly for 237, 25 minutes after lunch to complete a miserable outing and finish the season with little to show for their efforts.
Attacking opener Lendl Simmons converted his overnight 111 into a top score of 140 while Stephen Katwaroo got 34, but the lower order was devoid of fight as T&T lost their last six wickets for 97 runs.
Seamer Javon Searles was the pick of the bowlers, grabbing three for 31 while impressive fast bowler Miguel Cummins added one to his three from overnight to finish with four for 75.
He was voted Man-of-the-Match for his nine-wicket match haul.
T&T captain Denesh Ramdin said afterward his side’s campaign had suffered because of the loss of key personnel, with the new players not performing up to scratch.
“It was an up and down season and we had to keep chopping and changing players, some going and some coming. We did not get that balance in our batting department so we were always struggling to put 200 runs on the board and our bowlers have done it throughout the season for us,” the West Indies wicketkeeper said.
“This is [one of the few times] we have gotten over 220 runs for the season. It is something we have to think about and we have to go back to our drawing board. The top five or six batters need to come to the party. They didn’t come consistently as we wanted them too in this tournament.”
He added: “Well played to Simmons this game. He got a hundred but coming from 260 behind it is a hard task to overcome that.”
Barbados coach Hendy Springer, meanwhile, was understandably elated by his team’s triumph.
“It feels great after you have completed a season after the kind of start we had, win a trophy and still look around and see some of the young guys improve as well. That is the definition of success for me,” he said.
“We had guys that were willing or fight, willing to prove their worth and that was important.”
With the script written since the first day after T&T’s batting meltdown, the result appeared all but a formality when the visitors resumed the third day still 119 runs adrift of making Barbados bat again.
Simmons picked up where he left off on Friday, slamming the second ball of the day from pacer Kemar Roach through cover for four, and repeating the shot in the bowler’s next over.
He stretched his fifth wicket stand with Ramdin to 83 before losing his skipper, lbw to Roach for 18 in the seventh over of the morning.
Ramdin never suggested permanence and had been put down at first slip by Sulieman Benn off Roach in the previous over on 17.
Simmons continued to play freely, carting Cummins over long off for his eighth six, as he added 25 for the sixth wicket with the diminutive Katwaroo, to hold up Barbados’ advance.
Running out of ideas, Barbados turned to part-time seamer Jonathan Carter and he got the breakthrough, having Simmons caught at the wicket, 50 minutes before lunch.
All told, the right-hander faced 114 balls in nearly three hours at the crease, and also counted 12 fours.
Katwaroo, who had batted cautiously for nearly an hour-and-a-half with three fours, then suffered a wild rush of blood in the final over before lunch and skied Searles to Roach at mid-off.
Perched on 217 for seven at the interval, T&T’s tail collapsed swiftly on resumption, leaving Imran Khan unbeaten on 14.
Scoreboard
T&T 1st Innings 110BARBADOS 1st Innings 369
T&T 2nd Innings
(overnight 140 for four)
L Simmons c wkp Dowrich b Carter 140
A Barath lbw b Cummins 2
Y Cariah c wkp Dowrich b Cummins 2
J Mohammed c Nurse b Cummins 0
A Hosein c and b Benn 8
*+D Ramdin lbw b Roach 18
S Katwaroo c Roach b Searles 34
I Khan not out 14
R Emrit lbw b Searles 1
M Richards c Stoute b Cummins 7
S Gabriel lbw b Searles 1
Extras (lb3, w1, nb6) 10
TOTAL (all out, 55.4 overs) 237
Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-54, 3-54, 4-87, 5-170, 6-195, 7-217, 8-221, 9-236, 10-237.
Bowling: Roach 9-1-43-1, Cummins 14-2-75-4, Benn 11-0-59-1, Nurse 6-0-19-0, Searles 12.4-3-31-3, Carter 3-1-7-1.
Result: Barbados won by an innings and 22 runs.
Series: Barbados won Regional Four-Day title
Man-of-the-match: Miguel Cummins.
Toss: Barbados.
Umpires: P Gustard, N Duguid.
