Jamaica's middle-order batsman, Wavell Hinds, strokes the ball while batting against Bar-bados during the fourth and final day of their WICB Regional Four-day Championship match at Kensington. Hinds scored an unbeaten 59. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
An unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 122 between Wavell Hinds and David Bernard Jr yesterday guided Jamaica to a commanding six-wicket win over Barbados in their top-of-the-table WICB Four-day Championship clash at Kensington Park.
Coming together with Jamaica in dire straits at 81-4 and still needing further 121 runs to record what would be their third outright win in four matches, Hinds and Bernard batted with seasoned maturity and confidence to take Jamaica home at 203-4 after the Barbadians were bowled out for 221 at the end of day three, leaving a modest winning target of 201.
The 32-year-old Hinds, who has been out the West Indies team for over two years and still harbours hopes of representing the region, ended on 59 not out and with it copped the Man-of-the-Match award after making 75 in the first innings and taking 2-14 in Barbados' second innings.
Bernard, whose solitary Test came against Australia in 2003, ended with a top score of 60 not out.
Hinds, who walked to the crease on the resumption after lunch after opener Danza Hyatt (27) was caught at the wicket by wicketkeeper Patrick Browne off the last ball before lunch, showed the application needed on a pitch that was dry and dusty and hit two fours in his defiant knock.
Bernard started slowly but grew in confidence as the match went on, stroked seven boundaries, the last of which was a classic 'no-man-move' cover drive that brought up the victory target and cheers from the fair-size gathering.
Fighting position
Early in the morning session, left-arm pacer Pedro Collins put Barbados in a fighting position when he dismissed opener Brenton Parchment (10) and number three batsman, Donovan Pagon (0), to have the Jamaicans in a spot of bother at 32-2 within the first half-hour. Thereafter, he had difficulty troubling the batsman due to a lack of pace and a seemingly inability to bowl his once-feared inswingers.
However, he emerged the pick of the Barbados bowlers with 2-39 off 15 overs (two spells), while left-arm spinner, Ryan Hinds, who bowled non-stop from one end and tried to exploit the bowlers' follow-through footmarks, supported with 2-53 off 31 overs.
"Playing here for over two decades helped, as I felt comfortable and was middling the ball well," said Hinds, who along with Bernard plays for Kensington Cricket Club in the local domestic competitions.
Hinds, who has an average of 33.01 after 45 Test matches, the last of which came against Australia in 2005, was also questioned if his Man-of-the-Match performance was a message to the West Indies selectors that he wants to represent the region again.
"I am giving my best for my country and wherever that takes me, I will accept. I am and have always been ready to make a contribution at any level," he declared.
Meanwhile, Jason Haynes, who according some pundits did not do too much of a good jog managing his charges in the field, where at times it seemed as if Hinds was the captain, said Jamaica played better cricket on the day and as such were deserving winners.
"We were looking for the victory but in the end it was not to be," he said. "We tried everything we could, but credit to (Wavell) Hinds and Bernard, they stuck to the task," he added.
Haynes also mentioned that not having a specialist spinner and fast bowler Tino Best, who suffered a hamstring injury during Jamaica's first innings, made their task more difficult.
"Tino is one of our best bowlers and not having him was costly. Also, in hindsight maybe if we had played leg-spinner Nikoli Charles things could have been different," he noted.
With the victory, Jamaica moved to 42 points, 15 more than Barbados, who remained on 27, while the Windward Islands, with 24, round off the top three. Trinidad and Tobago 21, the Leeward Islands 16, Combined Campuses and Colleges 12 and Guyana 4 complete the standings.
Jamaica, who were recording their third outright win in five outings of the 12-round championship, will next turn their attention to Guyana, who they will play away next weekend.