Lewis leads Windwards to victory

Windward Islands 233 for 6 (Lewis 65*, Murray 53, Smith 43, Powell 4-64) defeated Jamaica 254 for 8 (Parchment 65, Samuels 54, Lambert 42, Sammy 4-49) by four wickets in a rain-reduced match
Scorecard

Rawl Lewis played a captain's innings to lead Windward Islands to a four-wicket victory against Jamaica in the second round of the KFC Cup at the North Stars Cultural & Social Club on Tuesday.

Chasing a revised target of 230 runs from 43 overs, after rain interrupted play, Windwards coasted home with 17 balls to spare, when Lewis slashed a searing cut off the left-arm spinner, Nikita Miller, to bring up his tenth four.

Lewis finished with an undefeated 65 from 47 balls. He also hit one six that helped him to earn the Man-of-the-Match award, after his side dipped to 176 for 6 and had looked in danger of giving up the ghost.

The long-standing wicketkeeper/batsman Junior Murray helped to set up the victory with six fours in his 53 from 77 balls. He batted through the later stages of his innings with a runner, after suffering cramps. Murray shared 70 for the first wicket with the left-handed West Indies opener, Devon Smith, who struck nine fours in his 43 from 29 balls.

The West Indies fast bowler Daren Powell was the most successful of Jamaica's attack: he took four wickets for 64 runs from seven overs. But his costly last over, in which he conceded 15 runs, nearly gave the match away.

The opener, Brenton Parchment, and West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels had hit half-centuries and added 97 for the second wicket to pave the way for Jamaica's total of 254 for 8 off 50 overs. Parchment hit eight fours and one six in a top-score of 65 from 102 balls, and Samuels hit 54 from 77 balls which included three fours and one six.

Darren Sammy, who played a couple of limited-overs internationals for West Indies last year, was the pick of the Windwards' bowlers with four wickets for 49 runs from ten overs. Smith then played some exciting strokes to give Windwards an enterprising start with Murray before he was caught behind off Dave Bernard Jr, top-edging a cut in the ninth over.

Craig Emmanuel joined Murray and batted circumspectly to add 48 for the second wicket before he was caught behind for 21 in the 22nd over to leave Windwards on 118 for 2.