KINGSTOWN, St Vincent – Barbados comfortably disposed of Leeward Islands by five wickets to win their third match of an unbeaten campaign and clinch the CWI Under-19 Championship yesterday.
Playing in their final round match at Park Hill, Barbados easily chased down their target of 107, to end on 21.5 points.
Windward Islands, who also played unbeaten, finished second on 16.8 points after their final match against Jamaica was rained off without a ball bowled while dethroned champions Guyana finished third on 14.6 points after edging Trinidad and Tobago by one run.
Barbados Under-19s celebrate another wicket.
Barbados entered the final round on top the standings and made all the right moves especially after restricting Leewards to 106 all out in the 39th over.
Opting to bat first, Leewards slumped to 39 for six in the 14th over as seamers Ramon Simmonds (3-10) Matthew Forde (2-13) carved through the top order, before Anderson Amurdan top-scored with a patient 33 off 72 balls with five fours to ensure his side reached triple figures.
In reply, Barbados fared little better early on as they found themselves tottering on 47 for five in the sixth over after Paul Miller (2-14) and Antonio Fernandes (2-24) took two wickets apiece to wreck the top order.
However, Forde returned with the bat to hit a fine unbeaten 40, in an unbroken 62-run, sixth wicket stand with Antonio Morris (24 not out) to see Barbados over the line.
Forde, batting at number seven, struck seven fours in a 20-ball cameo.
At Arnos Vale, Guyana managed to finish their campaign on a high note in a thrilling finish after successfully defending a competitive total.
Asked to bat in a contest reduced to 48 overs, Guyana got 42 from Kevlon Anderson and 30 from Junior Sinclair as they got up to 149 for five.
Sachin Singh perished without scoring with a single run on the board but Anderson and Sinclair put on 74 for the second wicket. When both fell in the space of 10 balls with three runs added, Alphius Bookie (25) and Seon Glasgow (24) added a further 51 for the fourth wicket.
In reply, T&T lost wickets in clusters before being dismissed for 148 with two balls remaining.
They were two down for 20 in the 11th over before Leonardo Francis (24) and Aaron Nanan (23) posted 47 for the third wicket.
However, both departed in the space of 15 balls with 11 runs added, leaving Mbeko Joseph – who top-scored with 41 off 61 balls – to engineer small partnerships of 25 for the fifth wicket with Joshua James (15) and 26 for the sixth with Avinash Mahabirsingh (12) to get his side close.
T&T finished fourth on nine points after winning just once while winless Jamaica were fifth on 6.6 and Leewards last on 4.9 points.
