KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Leg-spinner Hayden Walsh Jr and fast bowler Miguel Cummins wrecked Jamaica Scorpions to propel Barbados Pride to an uncomplicated six-wicket victory inside three days here yesterday.
Antiguan Walsh (3-41) and Test left-armer Jomel Warrican (3-49) grabbed three wickets apiece while Cummins picked up two for 20 as Scorpions were bundled out cheaply for 157 in their second innings after resuming the day on 22 for two.
Antiguan Devon Thomas struck an unbeaten 44, tail-ender Jason Dawes got 29 while Brandon King chipped in with 25.
Scorpions were fighting at 73 for three but Walsh and Cummins combined to take five of the last seven wickets which fell for 84 runs.
Set a modest 118 for victory, Pride stumbled en route to their target but were never in real danger, and completed the win about 15 minutes before the scheduled tea break at Sabina Park.
Captain and opener Kraigg Brathwaite top-scored with 36 while Roston Chase gathered an unbeaten 35 and Jonathan Carter, 32.
Leg-spinner Damion Jacobs (2-29) and left-arm spinner Nikita Miller (2-38) ensured Scorpions went down fighting but the hosts never had enough runs on the board.
The victory kept Pride second on 106 points behind leaders Guyana Jaguars who beat Windward Islands Volcanoes, also by six wickets, in their eighth round encounter in Gros Islet.
However, the defeat for Scorpions was their third straight and left their season in crisis. They earned three points from the affair to move to 63 points.
Resuming the day in a shaky position following Warrican’s two-wicket burst the previous evening, Scorpions slipped further into trouble when Andre McCarthy gave the same bowler his third wicket, caught at mid-on off after adding 13 to his overnight five, at 38 for three.
King and captain John Campbell (20) put on 35 for the fourth wicket but once they were separated the innings declined dramatically.
Campbell, unbeaten overnight on ten, spent 63 balls and an hour-an-a-half overall in adding ten runs before he was caught at the wicket off part-time off-spinner Roston Chase.
His dismissal triggered a slide which saw four wickets fall for seven runs in the space of 29 deliveries, as Walsh and Cummins ran through the lower order.
In their run chase, Pride then lost left-handed opener Omar Phillips for eight with the score on 17 for one, caught at slip by McCarthy off Miller, but Brathwaite and Carter allayed any fears of a collapse with a 60-run, second wicket stand.
While Brathwaite faced 60 balls and struck six fours, Carter was the more aggressive with three fours and two sixes off 45 deliveries.
Both fell in successive overs to leave Pride on 79 for three but Chase steered the visitors over the line.