Sports
Roneil Walcott
BARBADOS Pelicans got their first win of the West Indies T20 Breakout League on April 29 when they got a nervy one-run victory against Windward Islands Infernos at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba.
Batting first, Pelicans made a mammoth score of 199 for five, with opener Shian Brathwaite (85 not out off 50 balls) and Kevin Wickham (64 off 46) rescuing their innings with a 99-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Barbados slipped to 33 for three in the fourth over, before the right-handed Wickham dominated the stand with Brathwaite to shift the game’s momentum.
The Pelicans got to 132 for four at the start of the 16th over when Wickham was dismissed by Avinash Mahabirsingh (two for 28). The powerful Brathwaite then went into overdrive in the final five overs as he scored 54 of the 67 runs his team rattled off in that period – hitting nine fours and four sixes in the process.
The Windwards, who won the opening game of the tournament against Guyana Rainforest Rangers on April 25, were stuttering at the halfway stage in the chase as they were placed on 88 for five. Windwards needed 112 off the last 60 balls and they stayed in contention with a counter-attacking stand of 51 between Teddy Bishop (61 off 42) and Shadrack Descarte (26 off 16).
The Pelicans looked to be cruising to a comfortable victory as Descarte, Ryan John (seven) and Bishop were dismissed in quick succession as the Infernos slipped to 163 for eight in the 18th over.
The Infernos needed 37 off the last 13 balls and they were up against it at the start of the final over as they needed to get 23 runs off Pelicans’ TT medium-pacer Sion Hackett.
Lower-order batsman Keon Gaston (30 off 12) almost pulled off the unthinkable for the Infernos, and he had Hackett and the Pelicans on edge when he swatted the first two balls for a six and a four. Off the penultimate ball of the match, Darel Cyrus thumped Hackett for a six as Joshua Bishop spilled a catch at long-on. Needing four off the last ball to snatch the improbable win, Cyrus and Gaston scrambled two runs and attempted a third to force a tie, but wicket-keeper Leniko Boucher effected the run out of Gaston to give the Pelicans the tight win. The Windwards agonisingly closed their innings on 198 for nine.
Pelicans captain Nyeem Young led the attack with figures of three for 29.
Summarised Scores:
BARBADOS PELICANS: 199/5 from 20 overs (Shian Brathwaite 85 not out, Kevin Wickham 64, Kadeem Alleyne 22; Avinash Mahabirsingh 2/28, Keon Gaston 2/38) vs WINDWARD ISLANDS INFERNOS: 198/9 from 20 overs (Teddy Bishop 61, K Gaston 30, Shadrack Descarte 26; Nyeem Young 3/29). Pelicans won by one run.
