NORTH SOUND, Antigua, CMC – Captain Shai Hope constructed a high class half-century to power Barbados Pride to a five-wicket victory over Leeward Islands Hurricanes and into the semi-finals of the Super50 Cup here late Sunday night.
Faced with a challenging revised target of 271 off 48 overs in the day/night Zone B encounter at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Pride stitched together a clinical run chase to reach their target with an over to spare.
At the centre of the effort was the enterprising Hope, the stylish right-hander top-scoring with 88 off 67 deliveries – his third half-century of the campaign coming three days after celebrating his 29th birthday.
Opener Zachary McCaskie struck a patient 49 from 70 balls, Nicholas Kirton lashed a breezy 39 from 34 deliveries while Kyle Hope – Shai’s older brother – weighed in with 36 from 62 balls at the top of the order.
All-rounder Roshon Primus put the finishing touches on the chase, blasting a couple of sixes in a 10-ball unbeaten 21, including the winning runs – a mighty blow over the ropes at mid-wicket off the expensive left-arm pacer Colin Archibald.
“We just [needed] to set it up. Set a foundation and then we can explode at the end,” Man-of-the-Match Hope said afterwards.
“There’s never a need to panic. I always think we have much more time than we think, and that’s something I like to portray to the dressing room and I think we need to do it a lot more in the West Indian culture.
“If it’s 10 runs an over [which is required], that literally means we just need 10 runs in the last over to win the game.”
Hurricanes posted 273 for seven from their 50 overs after being sent in, captain Jahmar Hamilton hitting his third successive half-century with 51 off 70 balls, Rahkeem Cornwall getting 46 from 38 deliveries and left-handed opener Kieran Powell carving out 40 from 56 deliveries.
In-form right-hander Keacy Carty punched 36 while Karima Gore (33 not out) and Hayden Walsh (33) chipped in with key knocks, which appeared to give Hurricanes in the upper hand in the contest.
With the defeat, however, – their second in six outings – Hurricanes slipped to second on 14 points but are now in danger of missing out on the semi-finals as they can be overtaken by Jamaica Scorpions (12) who play minnows West Indies Academy on Monday.
“I think we lost it in the back end with our faster bowlers. We didn’t stick to our plans as long as we needed to,” Hamilton lamented.
Hurricanes batted well in partnerships after the early loss of Kofi James for six in the fourth over with 19 runs on the board, Carty and Powell rebuilding the innings in a 65-run second wicket stand.
When both perished 15 runs and 27 balls apart – both to rookie leg-spinner Javed Leacock (4-48) – Hamilton struck three fours and two sixes and Cornwall, two fours and four sixes, as Hurricanes benefitted from a 86-run fourth wicket partnership.
Walsh and Gore then followed up with their cameos which helped Hurricanes past the 250-run mark.
Bad light caused by a floodlight failure forced a stoppage early in the chase resulting in a revision of the target but once play resumed, McCaskie and Hope put on 93 for the first wicket to keep the game interesting.
Both were casualties as Pride lost three wickets for 29 runs but it only paved the way for Hope’s arrival and the resurgence of the innings.
The West Indies white-ball star stroked half-dozen fours and four sixes, dominating a 103-run, fourth wicket stand with Kirton, which put Pride in sight of victory.
By the time he perished in the 46th over, pulling off-spinner Cornwall into the lap of deep mid-wicket, Pride still required a further 24 runs from 16 balls but Primus entered to seal the deal.
