da apostaganha： The Final result might not have had anything to do withit
da 888casino： Haydn Gill31-Oct-1999The Final result might not have had anything to do withit. But, from the moment Barbados chose to bat first on winningthe toss in their Red Stripe Bowl opener against the LeewardIslands yesterday, there was some debate at the AntiguaRecreation Ground (ARG).That they managed only 120 had little to do with the surface,and they duly lost the match by four wickets in spite of asplendid effort in defending their paltry total.There was tight, containing bowling by Barbados throughout andthe hosts arrived at their target in the 43rd of the 46 oversavailable.Prior to the start, which was delayed by 45 minutes to allowthe groundstaff to finally complete the raking up of anenormous amount of grass, the general feeling was that thepitch would be unpredictable.When asked at the time why Barbados opted to bat first, coachWilliam Bourne said the Duckworth/Lewis system in rain-affectedmatches tended to put the team batting second at adisadvantage.There is some uncertainty about the weather, he said at atime when the skies were clear and the forecast was favourable.That was a key factor, and sometimes we seem to get problemsbatting second. We feel that once we ride out the first hour,we should get a good score,Bourne said.Barbados did survive the first hour against a Leeward Islandsattack without Curtly Ambrose and Kenny Benjamin.The damage, however, was principally inflicted by two playersin only their second season of regional cricket.Afterwards, Bourne cited the disappointing collapse in whichBarbados lost their last seven wickets for 25 runs as the mainreason for their demise.We had some bad strokes. The batting was a letdown, he said.The pitch was slow. There was nothing untoward orextraordinary about it.One ball bounced badly in both innings, but we batted badly.The defeat means that Barbados must win against Canada todayand Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow to stand a chance of reachingthe semifinals.The collapse could not have been predicted when captain PhiloWallace and Adrian Griffith were finding the boundary withregularity in a second-wicket stand of 53.Having analysed the pitch, the pair played with some authorityafter Sherwin Campbell was out to his first ball, gloving alifting delivery from debutant fast bowler Goldwyn Prince.Big and strong, Prince bowled with enthusiasm before Wallacesmacked him for four boundaries through the on-side.Barbados reached their first 50 in 13 overs before losingmomentum with the introduction of Hamesh Anthony and AnthonyLake.Anthony struck an important blow in his first over whenWallaces attempted cut resulted in an edged catch towicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs, who hauled in five dismissals.Once the captain was out, only 22 runs were scored in the next11 overs that followed from medium-pacer Anthony andoff-spinner Lake.Lake, a 25-year-old Antiguan who created a favourableimpression in his debut season last year, hardly delivered abad ball in ten successive overs that cost him a mere 16 runsand included the scalps of the left-handers Griffith and RyanHinds.Griffiths knock ended in disappointing fashion at 31 with anill-advised cross-batted stroke, but Barbados woes startedwith a double-strike from the unlikeliest of bowlers.When Wildern Cornwall came on to bowl his bustling medium-paceafter 27 overs with the total on 80 for three, Barbados wouldhave been looking to increase the tempo.Instead, they had to try to recover from the quick dismissalsof Floyd Reifer, who edged a catch to Jacobs, and RolandHolder, a lbw victim on the back foot two balls after thedismissal of his partner.Barbados never overcame these setbacks and a seemingly lengthybatting order – Antonio Mayers went in at No. 8 – could notraise at least another 30 runs that would have made the matchfar more competitive.Barbados did well to prevent the Leewards from romping home,but the final result was always on the cards once theexperienced Keith Arthurton and Jacobs added 35 for the fifthwicket after their team were tottering at 48 for four.Jacobs hit 31 off 67 balls and Arthurton made 25.
