St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, CMC – Middle order batsman Emmanuel Stewart scored a patient 43 to pull Windward Islands out of a slump on their way to a five wicket win over Barbados in their fifth round game of the Regional Under-19 Championship at St. Elizabeth Technical High School here yesterday.
Stewart picked up four boundaries in a 78 ball stay at the crease to help the Windwards recover from a shaky position and seal a win following their narrow defeat against Leeward Islands on Monday.
An impressive three wicket haul by Windwards bowler Ryan John spearheaded a destructive attack in which three other bowlers picked up two wickets each to bowl out their opponents for 138 in 45 overs.
Chasing 139 for victory after Barbados won the toss and decided to bat, Windwards suffered an early setback, losing their first wicket in the first ball of the innings when Kyle Cabey lost his stumps to Keon Harding, who topped the bowling with two for 34.
Windwards slipped further into dangerous territory after losing Gidron Pope for 27 and Josiah Hilton for three within the space of eight balls before Stewart arrived to stabilize the innings.
He batted sensibly at a crucial stage for the Windwards, holding the innings together by constructing two important partnerships – a 52 run stand with his captain Kershake Jno Lewis and a 43 run partnership with Johnel Eugene to guide his side to victory.
Barbados found the going tough against the Windwards bowlers, crumbling to 57 for four at one stage and with only two batsmen passing 20 runs.
Middle order batsman Nicholas Kirton top scored with 26 while Leniko Boucher scored 24.
But John, Othneil Lewis, Gidron Pope and Kyle Cabey ran through the innings with three for 14, 2-19, 2-46 and two for 20 respectively to contain Barbados and give Windwards an easy target.
