ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, (CMC) - Pacer Fernix Thomas grabbed a five-wicket haul and hurried the Windward Islands to a 10-wicket victory over West Indies-B before lunch on the fourth and final day of their seventh round Carib Beer 2004 Cricket Series match at Queen’s Park Stadium yesterday.
Set a mere eight runs to win after they had bowled out the West Indies-B for a second innings 237, Windwards finished on 11 without loss approximately half an hour before lunch.
The in-form Thomas, whose bowling had earned him the man-of-the-match award in the sixth round against Kenya, picked up five for 49 off 21 overs with seven maidens to set up the Windwards’ hasty win.
The Windwards finished third in the standings with 48 points -- behind champions Barbados (84) and Jamaica (52) -- and earned a semi-final meeting in the International Challenge series with the Jamaicans this coming weekend in Jamaica.
From an overnight 175 for six, the West Indies-B -- having trailed by a whopping 230 runs on first innings when they scored 197 in reply to the Windwards’ 427 -- slipped into further trouble when Thomas sent back Ryan Austin (4) in the morning’s first over, caught behind by Lyndon James.
Dwight Washington joined Kenroy Williams and the pair resisted with a 51-run eighth-wicket stand that ended when Thomas dislodged Washington (8), also caught behind at 230 for eight.
Without addition to the score, Williams, a former Barbados youth captain, gave a sharp knee-high return catch to captain Rawl Lewis, for the leg-spinner to snatch the first of two lower-order wickets.
Williams hit 55 to be his team’s second highest scorer in the innings, after Austin Richards (59).
Lewis (2-39) finished the match when Number-11 batsman Dennis George went for a drive against him and missed. He was stumped without scoring.
Darren Sammy (2-31) also took two wickets, but Thomas was the hero with his five-wicket effort, complementing last week’s 10-wicket match haul -- including a first innings eight for 28 -- against the Kenyans in St Vincent.
Devon Smith, man-of-the-match for his first innings 154, was three not out at the end, and Currency was eight, with two boundaries, as the Windwards emphatically secured a play-off spot for the Carib Beer International Challenge Trophy.
WEST INDIES-B 1st innings 197 (A.Richards 74; S. Shillingford 4-50)