Barbados crushed Jamaica by seven wickets yesterday in the final of the Carib Beer International Challenge tournament at the Kensinton Oval to become the first team to claim the inaugural Carib Beer first-class tournament 'double' and end an excellent season with their seventh outright victory from nine matches.
Barbados, the most successful team in the Caribbean with 18 regional first class titles since 1966, added the CaribBeer International Challenge four-day title to the Red Stripe Bowl one-day, the Carib Beer series regional first class title and the regional under-19 three-day title their junior team won in Jamaica.
Trinidad and Tobago (U-15) and Windward Islands (U-19 one-day) hold the only other West Indies titles.
It was the second consecutive victory for Barbados against Jamaica in a senior final following their victory in the Red Stripe Bowl final in Jamaica last September.
Resuming the final day on 166-3 needing to make another 19 runs to avoid an innings defeat, Jamaica were quickly dismissed for 219 leaving the Courtney Browne led Barbados side to get 35 to win in two sessions and 16 minutes.
Barbados, who last won the regional title in 2001, lost Philo Wallace for a duck, Sherwin Campbell (5) and Floyd Reifer (1) but eventually reached 35-3 to win the game 21 minutes after lunch.
Wallace, who played his debut first class match in 1990, was bowled by Jerome Taylor at 6-1 and waved to the small crowd, equipped with Barbados flags, as he walked to towards the dressing room.
The 32-year-old Wallace said after the game he had not retired and he was just waving goodbye to his fans at the end the season.
Campbell, who like Wallace scored two hundreds this season, was removed- hit wicket - at 10-1 by Jermaine Lawson, who bowled a barrage of quick bouncers in his short spell. Lawson also sent back Reifer, well caught at square leg by Brenton Parchment at 23-3.
Ryan Hinds (21 with four fours from 16 balls) and Kurt Wilkinson (0) then saw the home team to another comprehensive victory this season.
The hostile Lawson, who could share the new ball at Bourda on Thursday, finished with 2-12 for Jamaica, playing in their third consecutive final.
Guyana and Jamaica were the only teams to avoid being beaten outright by Barbados in the preliminary round while this is the first time for the season that Barbados had to go into the final day of any game for an outright win.
Earlier, Leon Garrick took his overnight 56 to 75 while David Bernard (20) was the only other Jamaican batsman to reach double figures in another poor batting performance on a good batting track in glorious sunshine.
Bernard was removed by left-arm pacer Pedro Collins at 187-4 to end a 43-run fourth-wicket stand with Garrick who hit seven fours from 177 balls and 247 minutes in his innings.
After Powell was sent back by Collins for a duck and Garrick was LBW to Vasbert Drakes at 206-6, it was all down hill for the Jamaicans.
None of the last five batsmen got into double figures as Robert Samuels (8), Gareth Breese (1), Keith Hibbert (2) and last man Lawson (0) all fell in quick succession as the last five wickets fell for 13 runs and their last seven for 36.
Drakes took 3-44 and Collins 2-42 as the pacers warmed up for the first test in Guyana, which starts at Bourda on Thursday.