A day of tremendous momentum swings ended with
Leeward Islands holding on with one wicket remaining,
to win the West Indies Rising Stars Under-19
championship in a roller coaster three-day final against
Barbados at Arnos Vale.
Nathan Edwards, the left-handed allrounder ended unbeaten
on 11, which came off 55 balls in over 90 minutes at the crease,
played a defensive masterclass for to help Leewards hold on in
their second innings on 51-9 (28 overs) to avoid being bowled
out, to deny Barbados the title in dramatic fashion.
The third and final day’s play began with Leeward Islands batting
in their first innings on 172-4, 107 runs behind Barbados’s
first innings total of 279-8 declared. Overnight batsman
Carl Bowen-Tuckett showed his experience during a crucial
composed knock of 68 off 200 balls with two boundaries to
anchor the Leewards before he was dismissed in the 98th over,
ahead of the team tactical declaration on exactly 250-8 (110
overs), to receive key batting points for scoring 250 and facing
that amount of overs.
Although Barbados held a 29 run lead Leewards had closed the
points gap due to the fast bowling and aforementioned batting points
accumulated. So, when Edwards bowling his left-arm medium trapped
Barbados opener Achilles Browne without scoring with the second
delivery, that lead quickly became insignificant. Right-hand medium
pacer Chamiqueko Landerfort (6-1-16-4) as Barbados collapsed to
76-9.
The final equation to win the final meant Leewards either could chase
down the 106 to win or just bat out the final session. While Barbados
had to get all 10 wickets. When pacer Johan Layne struck in the first
over of Leewards run chase, the Leewards started to wobble. Leftarm
spinner Nathan Sealy with an inspired spell (14-8-10-6) was
seemingly bowling Barbados to victory, until the final unfortunate
twist occurred.
Sealy, unfortunately, dropped Edwards at first slip with off fellow left-arm
spinner Devon Stevenson which would have won Barbados the
title. In the end Edwards and last man Onaje Armoy survived the final
stages to win the championship for the Leeward Islands.
Leeward Islands allrounder Edwards had a
tremendous tournament
with bat and ball. He scored 133
runs at an average of 44.33
and took 12 wickets at 15.25