POINTE-A-PIERRE, Trinidad, (CMC) - Resolute batting from Ryan Hinds, Kurt Wilkinson and captain Courtney Browne and four late wickets have put Barbados on the verge of victory over Trinidad & Tobago and completing a sweep of their seven preliminary matches in the Carib Beer 2004 Cricket Series.
Hinds, Wilkinson and Browne all got within sight of the hundred-run landmark, but fell short in lifting Barbados to 372 in their second innings at Guaracara Park on the second day and leaving T&T with little more than a day to score 393 to win.
Two wickets to Corey Collymore and one apiece to Pedro Collins and his brother Fidel Edwards, who removed West Indies captain and batting supreme Brian Lara, put T&T on the back foot at 60 for four and Barbados in a favourable position to press for an unprecedented seventh win in their final preliminary match when stumps were drawn.
The highest fourth innings winning total in the modern West Indies first-class championship is 371 for eight by Windward Islands (needing 368) against T&T at Queen’s Park Oval 21 years ago and the home team needed a similar effort.
Left with 18 overs to face before the close, they had a poor start to the run chase when Sherwin Ganga was caught behind off Collins for a duck and first innings century-maker Ricardo Powell was caught at first slip for six, to leave T&T 19 for two.
Aneil Kanhai temporarily held up the Barbadians, but Collymore had him caught at square leg for 14 before Edwards dealt the most telling blow by having Lara caught at mid-on for 14 essaying a hook just when it looked like he might have been considering something special.
T&T captain Daren Ganga and Gibran Mohammed battled through the remaining overs to offer some glimmer of hope to their side that they could avoid defeat on today’s last day.
For Barbados, there would be some concern though, since Tino Best, who has led the wicket-takers’ chart for most of the season, left the field and did not bowl in the brief period of play before the close.
Earlier, the Barbadians resumed on 138 for three and quickly underlined their superiority. Overnight batsmen Kirk Wilkinson and Ryan Hinds took no time to establish their authority against the opposition’s attack that lacked penetration on the easy-paced pitch.
The pair figured in a fourth-wicket stand of 132 to Barbados firmly in control of the match and leaving their opponents with little or no chance of a comeback story, much to the disappointment of their supporters, who felt a chance at a fifth regional title was around the corner earlier in the season.
Unorthodox left-arm spin bowler Dave Mohammed made the breakthrough when Wilkinson was caught at mid-off for 82 after batting nearly five hours to strike 11 fours from 148 balls.
Left-hander Hinds gave credence to the suggestion that when a long partnership is broken wickets fall quickly, when part-time off-spin bowler Aneil Kanhai bowled him for the top score of 83 from just over three hours batting that consisted of 164 balls and included 11 fours.
Browne arrived with the match still in the balance and played another good hand to post his second score over 50 in the match. He made a workmanlike 82 from 118 balls to follow his 98 in the first innings and batted for nearly three hours for his seven fours.
He rallied the lower order after Dave Mohammed bowled Dwayne Smith for 40 to leave Barbados 261 for six. But Browne formed meaning alliances with three of his four fast bowlers - Tino Best, Collins and Collymore - to extend the innings was past tea.
Dave Mohammed was the most successful T&T bowler with three wickets for 96 runs from 28 overs, while Kanhai, Black and Amit Jaggernauth took two wickets each.
BARBADOS 1st innings 285 (C. Browne 98; A. Jaggernauth 3-75)