DISCOVERY BAY, Jamaica – Guyana won the Red Stripe Bowl one-day cricket tournament yesterday, scoring 212 for nine wickets to beat defending champion Barbados by 28 runs. Rain stopped play with Barbados struggling at 99 for five wickets in the 26th over. Under the Duckworth-Lewis system, Barbados was set a revised target of 84 in 11 overs, but the Bajans lost their five remaining wickets for 57 runs to end on 156 all out in 39 overs.
For its third Red Stripe tournament title, Guyana won US$1 200 yesterday. Previous victories came in 1998 and 2001. Captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul credited a “great team effort” for the Guyanese triumph.
The Barbadians had a bad start to their run chase. With only two runs on the board in the opening over, they lost Kurt Wilkinson who was caught by wicketkeeper Vishal Nagamootoo off fastbowler Reon Griffith for one.
Dwayne Smith and Sherwin Campbell carried the score to 41 in the seventh over, courtesy of some aggressive strokeplay by Smith, who smashed four fours and two sixes in making 29.
Smith, who made a match-winning 92 in the teams’ first match, was bowled by Griffith, whom he had hit for consecutive boundaries in the same over. Campbell maintained the momentum by also taking the attack to the Guyanese bowlers, but he was run out for 33 with the score on 76 in the 17th over. Campbell stroked five fours. The Bajans were set back further with the loss of Ryan Hinds for nine, 16 runs later. With the score on 99, Floyd Reifer was out, caught by Crandon in the deep off leftarm spinner Neil McGarrell for 19.
With the rain coming down harder, umpires Steve Bucknor and Billy Doctrove took the players off the field. Two overs after the resumption, Ryan Hurley was caught by Eusan Crandon off rightarm legspinner Mahen-dra Nagamootoo for four with the score on 108.
The next three batsmen were run out on the hunt for quick runs. Drakes, looking for a second run, went for seven in the 31st over while captain Courtney Browne (22) and Pedro Collins (two) were dismissed in the 35th over.
McGarrell sealed victory for Guyana by bowling Corey Collymore for eight. McGarrell, hero of Guyana’s semi-final victory over Jamaica, had three wickets for 45 runs. Griffith who was hammered by Smith and Campbell, captured two wickets.
Chanderpaul had won the toss and elected to bat. Guyana’s batting was again disappointing though they got a good start from Shivnarine Chattergoon (24) and Ryan Ramdass (37) who posted 45 for the first wicket.
Chattergoon was first out, stumped by Browne off spinner Hurley in the 18th over. However, Ramdass and Sarwan stepped up the pace in a second-wicket stand worth 47 runs.
The Guyanese were then set back by fastbowler Ian Bradshaw. The leftarm pacer finished with three wickets for 37 runs off his ten overs, capturing the key wickets of Sarwan for 22 and Chanderpaul for 19.
Bradshaw took two wickets with successive deliveries in the 34th over. He had Chanderpaul caught by wicketkeeper Courtney Browne, then dismissed Narsingh Deonarine who was caught in the deep by Corey Collymore.
Ramdass, who was dropped by Collymore off Bradshaw’s bowling when he made 32, was caught by Smith off Wilkinson, bowling medium-pace. After Bradshaw’s double strike, Guyana recovered through some solid batting from Man-of-the-match Lennox Cush, who made an attacking 41 off 52 deliveries, which contained two sixes and one four.
McGarrell, with 25 and Mahendra Nagamootoo, who scored 17, made useful runs down the order, with McGarrell smashing three successive fours off fastbowler Vasbert Drakes in the final over. He was last man out, run out off the final delivery going for a second run.
Guyana took three of the tournament’s individual awards. Nagamootoo won the Best Bowler Award for taking 13 wickets; Sarwan was Best Batsman with 202 runs and Best Allrounder for also picking up six wickets. Browne won the Best Wicketkeeper trophy for snaring 12 victims.