West Indies Domestic: Bajans pull it off

Port-Of-Spain - The heart-beats were as rapid as the rhythms of the Carnival 2000 road march contenders.

The sweat was running down the arm-pits profusely; the fingernails were being bitten by the second.

Such was the intensity of the moment yesterday.

And yes, Tante Merle returned to the Queen's Park Oval 25 years after her first appearance when there was a similarly heart-stopping match that ended with team scores being equal.

This time, victory was accomplished by Barbados by the narrowest of margins (one run) amidst unbearable tension at 5:25 p.m. with 12 overs remaining.

The emotions were far-ranging throughout the final, pulsating hour.

One minute the 3 500 spectators were in a frenzy as their champion Brian Lara was leading the charge in pursuit of what appeared to be a comfortable victory.

The next they were completely stunned when Hendy Bryan knocked back the stumps of Marlon Black to complete a sensational collapse in which the last five wickets fell for 20 and the last seven for 45.

When Black missed his irresponsible swing Bryan, unable to contain his emotions, ran all the way to the long-off boundary with ecstatic team-mates in pursuit. When he realised he could go no further, he dropped to the turf and his partners, including reserves Floyd Reifer and Sulieman Benn, huddled together before taking a lap of honour.

Just the ball before, Barbados were crestfallen after their umpteenth appeal for a lbw decision was turned down, resulting in four leg-byes being credited to Trinidad and Tobago.

Barbados knew fully well that defeat could have eliminated them from the Busta Cup depending on the results of the other two final preliminary round matches which end today.

They now await their opponents in the semifinals, but their 48 points should give them a spot in the top two and the right to host that semi.

'The guys worked very hard in the latter stages of the game,' manager Tony Howard said after Barbados' first victory in Trinidad since 1990 and their first at the Queen's Park Oval since 1983.

'We had some long talks. Some serious pointed issues were raised and the guys got it together. They went out there and demonstrated that.

'This was a team effort. Everybody knew what they had to do.'

With Lara beginning to play with increasing command, only diehard Barbadian supporters would have given their team a chance with Trinidad and Tobago on 141 for five in search of a winning target of 163.

Lara was one short of his 50, but his inclination to pull against left-arm fast bowler Pedro Collins caused his downfall.

His shot was miscued and captain Philo Wallace gleefully accepted the catch at mid-on. It was the third time in three innings that Collins had claimed Lara.

'One of the main turning points was when I got out,' Lara admitted.

'I thought that I needed to keep scoring. I felt that we had enough wickets in hand to get it, but Barbados bowled well.'

Even before Lara's dismissal, Bryan started the fightback with two wickets in successive balls.

One was Richard Smith to a catch inches off the ground by Sherwin Campbell at first slip, and the other was first innings hero Keno Mason, lbw pushing uncertainly forward.

Bryan lost some control in the dying stages and gave up four wides. By then Wallace had also turned to Ryan Hurley's off-breaks to relieve the hard-working Collins who also removed openers Daren Ganga and Imran Jan.

The little man came up big.

Rodney Sooklal, swinging across, was palpably lbw, and Mervyn Dillon, essaying a sweep, was bowled behind his back to leave Trinidad and Tobago 156 for nine.

The ball before, there was poor judgement on the part of Dinanath Ramnarine after the left-hander, who had somehow survived for an hour, was run out attempting a non-existent second run.

Collins and Bryan each finished with three wickets. Hurley had two, and the under-used Dave Marshall came up with the important wicket of the dangerous Denis Rampersad.

Marshall's diving return catch accounted for the No. 3 batsman, who made 34, in the last over before tea and ended a second-wicket stand of 50. The other batsman in that stand, Ganga, made 30 before edging a drive off Collins to first slip.

No one would have predicted what was to follow.