By Tony Becca, Contributing Editor
Jamaica's captain Gareth Breese celebrates after hitting the winning runs in their Carib Beer Series match against Trinidad and Tobago at Alpart Sports Club, St. Elizabeth, yesterday. Joining Breese in the celebration is Breese's teammate, Jerome Taylor (right). - Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer
JAMAICA booked a place in the semi-finals of the International Challenge Trophy section of the Carib Beer Cricket Series when, after apparently cantering to victory, they held on to defeat Trinidad and Tobago by three wickets in an exciting finish at Alpart yesterday.
Led by a solid second-wicket partnership of 116 between Maurice Kepple, 55, and Donovan Pagon, 94, and an attractive third-wicket stand of 78 between Pagon and Tamar Lambert, 39, Jamaica, set a target of 265 and resuming on 97 for one with the target still 158 runs away, were at one stage sailing along nicely at 231 for two.
Final scores: Trinidad and Tobago 229 and 182, Jamaica 147 and 266 for seven.
However, Trinidad and Tobago, led by medium-pacer Dwayne Bravo and then by fast bowler Marlon Black, struck before and after tea and turned the contest into an exciting finish. With 34 needed for victory and Pagon and Lambert in full flow and eight wickets in hand, it was all Jamaica.
In the final 10 minutes to tea, however, Bravo, armed with the second new ball, removed Lambert, Pagon and Carlton Baugh Jnr. as Jamaica lost three wickets for eight runs and dropped to 239 for five.
ALL JA
With David Bernard Jnr. and captain Breese together and the score on 252 for five with victory only 13 runs away, it was again all Jamaica. In two overs, however, Black removed Bernard Jnr., driving and brilliantly caught by Amit Jaggernauth at first slip, and Odean Brown.
Although Breese and Jerome Taylor batted Jamaica to victory, with only Andrew Richardson and Dwight Mais to come, it was excitement from there on until, with three runs to win, Breese, to the delight of the fans, clipped pacer Theodore Modeste to the fine-leg boundary. In winning the match, Jamaica, in third spot at the start of the round, are now in joint second-place on 40 points with Trinidad and Tobago, and with one round to go are in a good position to finish in the top four.
Despite the two hiccups, the victory, after trailing on first innings, left the fans showering praise on Jamaica's front-line batsmen who, in parading good character and a high level of skill, mixed tight, impregnable defence with some wonderful and sometimes brilliant strokes.
BATSMAN OF THE DAY
The batsman of the day, however, was Pagon the Man of the Match who celebrated his first half-century for Jamaica and just failed to chalk up his first century when, with the victory target 31 runs away and his landmark only six runs away, tea seven minutes away, and the second new ball in its fourth over, he hooked at Bravo and Aniel Kanhai, coming off the square-leg boundary, took a well judged catch to make it 234 for four.
Resuming on 38, Pagon stroked 10 fours in an innings that lasted for 360 minutes and during which he faced 277 deliveries, and as expected from the best front-foot driver in local cricket, the majority of them were through the offside.
On a day when he appeared to come of age, however, Pagon went around the compass, and in doing so paraded his ability to drive through the onside the best of them coming when, in celebrating his 50, he eased his left foot forward and stroked Jaggernauth to the long-on boundary, when he drove Black past the stumps to the long-on boundary, and when he chipped and hit Babwah over the long-on boundary to move into 90s.
