Barbados triumphant in tapeball triangular

odi Phillips scored the first hundred of the 2024 Caribbean Tapeball Tri-Nation Series on Tuesday, guiding Barbados to a massive win over Saint Lucia in the final at Londonderry Playing Field in the Commonwealth of Dominica.

The 31-year-old from St Joseph Cultural Club, the leading scorer in the 2024 St Joseph Tapeball Tournament, was on fire in the final. He scored 122 against Saint Lucia, from just 53 balls. He cleared the boundary 16 times, and hit two fours.

Barbados scored 241 for 6 in 20 overs, after opting to bat. Kemar Harte added 38, and Kemar Smith 34. Malcolm Monrose took 2-25, and Shon Francois 2-44.

In reply, Saint Lucia were bundled out for 72 in 13.4 overs. Garette Alphonse made 25, Kymani Sexius added 20, but Harte took 4-14, and Diego Stuart 2-9.

Barbados opened the tournament by defeating the host nation, Dominica, by 227 runs. Barbados made 287-9 in 20 overs, the highest score of the competition. Tyler Small had 67, Marlon Welcome-Goodman 53, and Harte 49. Dominica were 60 all out in 13.3 overs, only two players getting into double figures. Shakeel Turney took 4-17, Davien Branker 2-14, and the captain, Deswin Currency 2-16.

On the second day of competition, at Benjamin Park, Barbados had their first crack at Saint Lucia, winning by 208 runs. Barbados amassed 248-9, Zidane Harewood 99 from 45 balls, with 18 fours and two sixes, Phillips 41. Malcolm Monrose took 3-38.

Saint Lucia on that occasion were dismissed for 40. Renaldo Holder took 3-16, Currency 2-5, Harte 2-17.

The 15-man team and five officials will have been utterly delighted with the performances put in over the past few days. Barbados’ dominance owes a great deal to the effort put into domestic competition over the past two years.

“They’ve been practicising quite hard at home,” said Tapeball Barbados director, Elly Holford. “Today we saw the results of that work, and it was a joy to watch.

“From the results that we are getting, you can definitely tell that the tapeball competitions that we hold at home in Barbados, it is definitely paying off. We do have the Champions of Champions coming again in January. We have a minor league in September. We want to create a series of channels that would allow guys to come and showcase their talent.”

Notwithstanding the  lopsided results, Holford told Barbados TODAY that the tournament had its unique quirks and challenges, albeit nothing the team could not manage.

“The impression we got from the tournament – it was different, you know,” said Holford. “In terms, the pitch is a clay pitch, that red soil kind of material. And so it was a bit rough at first for the guys to adjust, but obviously, because the guys are professionals, they made light work of it.

Barbados remains in Roseau to contest the T10 tournament against the same two opponents between Wednesday and Thursday of this week,

The tournament was being held in preparation to select a West Indies team for the inaugural T20 Tapeball World Cup. That competition is expected to be held in Texas, USA in 2025, and it is anticipated that over 20 teams will compete.

“The region can build on this, because years gone by, you only had a hardball, that was the only outlet that you had,” Holford concluded. “Now there is tapeball. Nowadays, guys use cricket to make a living, but not everyone can make that team. And now we have tapeball, we are hoping we can build it, where we can have a regional tapeball series, where you got Guyana, and Trinidad, and Jamaica, and Antigua.”

In advance of the 2025 World Cup, it is hoped that the West Indies team will be able to take on Canada and the USA later this year.

Barbados squad: Deswin Currency (captain), Zidane Harewood (vice-captain), Ryshon Williams, Sadrian Ward, Kemar Smith, Marlon Welcome-Goodman, Jared Glikes, Davien Branker, Kemar Harte, Tyler Small, Kodi Phillips, Shakeel Turney, Abdulla Hafeji, Renaldo Holder, Diego Stuart.

Manager: Elly Holford; Coach: Shane Ramsay; Assistant Coach: Jamele Blair; Management Officials: Winston Haynes, Aslam Bhikha.