West Indies Cricket Fans

In the first match of a double-header at Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, St Kitts beat Guyana by four runs on a slow pitch in front of a poor crowd. Chris Gayle hit 66 not out from 55 balls, and Brandon King made 39 from 35 balls, as St Kitts made 132-3. Sheldon Cottrell then took 2-28 to restrict Guyanna to 11128-8, Jason Mohammed topscoring with a run-a-ball 41.

The St Kitts team featured the usual mix of Jamaicans outnumbering Leeward dotties, while Guyana had three foreigners, four locals, and two Jamaicans, for a more healthy mix developing Guyanese talent.

In the second match of that sparsely-attended double-header, Jamaica beat Barbados by 12 runs. Andre McCarthy hit 60 from 44 balls, and he was supported by Shakib al-Hasan with 44 not out from 32 balls, and a run-a-ball 30 from Simmons, as Jamaica piled up 154-5, Wahab Riaz taking 3-32.

Mohammed Sami then took 4-12 to dismiss Barbados for 142 all out, Kieran Pollard playing a lone hand with 62 from 33 balls. The teams were unchanged from the first match.

In front of a packed crowd at Port-of-Spain, Trinbago Knight Riders beat St Lucia by four wickets. Medium pacers Kevon Cooper (3-21) and Dwayne Bravo (2-33) restricted St Lucia to a paltry 118-9, Andre Fletcher topscoring with a run-a-ball 40. Offspinner Shane Shillingford took 4-22 to reduce TKR to 75-6, before Shadab Khan hit 30 not out and Javon Searles 27 not out to take the hosts to victory.

St Lucia had three foreignors and four locals, while TKR featured three foreignors and six locals.

In an exciting match in front of another packed crowd at Port-of-Spain, Jamaica edged past Trinbago Knight Riders by four wickets with four balls to spare on Wednesday. Pacers Kesrick Williams (3-26) and Odean Smith (3-20) dismissed TKR for 147 all out, Colin Munro hitting 41 from 25 balls, and a much happier Darren Bravo 33 from 25.

Captain Kumar Sangakkara then hit a run-a-ball 47, while Lendl Simmons blasted 38 from just 18 balls, to get Jamaica off to a 61-run opening stand. Sunil Narine then took 2-21 and Kevon Cooper 2-25 to get TKR back in the game, but the Jamaicans edged home.

Both sides had four foreigners each, while Trinbago put out six nationals, and Jamaica four.

On Thursday, in front of a mediocre crowd at Beausejour, Barbados romped to a 21-run win over St Lucia on D/L after rain affected the match. Kieran Pollard hammered 82 not out from just 35 balls, and he was supported by Dwayne Smith (36 from 27) and Kane Williamson (46 from 44), as Barbados piled up 195-4. Medium pacer Kyle Mayers took 2-30.

Pacer Wayne Parnell took 3-28 to restrict the hosts to 129-6 when rain stopped play. Captain Darren Sammy hit 60 not out from just 29 balls, but wickets fell around him.

Each time fielded four foreigners, but while St Lucia featured three locals, Barbados had only one national and five Trinidadians.

In front of another packed crowd at Queen's Park Oval on Friday, Trinbago Knight Riders beat Guyana by seven wickets with one over to spare. Spinners Shadab Khan (4-28) and Sunil Narine (2-16) restricted Guyana to 156-7, Chadwick Walton topscoring with 36 from 23 balls. Colin Munro then hit 70 not out from 47 balls, and he received support from Denesh Ramdin, who made 42 not out from 23 balls.

TKR continued to field more nationals, six, than any other team, and they unsurprisingly sit on the top of the standings. They put out four foreigners, while Guyana had three on the field, as well as three Guyanese players.

On saturday, in front of a poor crowd at Gros Islet, St Kitts crushed St Lucia by 33 runs. Evin Lewis hammered 92 from just 57 balls, as St Kitts compiled an imposing 196-6, pacer Jerome Taylor taking 3-46. Spinners Mohammed Hafeez (3-22) and Mohammed Nabi (3-15) then restricted the hosts to 163-3, Andre Fletcher topscoring with 48 from 33 balls.

St Lucia featured three foreigners and four Windward players, but once again the St Kitts team had an international flavour, with four foreigners, only one Leedot, and two players each from Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados.

Also on Saturday, in front of a packed crowd at Port-of-Spain, Trinbago Knight Riders squeezed past Barbados by two wickets with less than an over to spare. Pacers Ronsford Beaton (2.24) and Dwayne Bravo (2-27) restricted Barbados to 152-9. Shoaib Malik hit 51 from 38 balls, and Kane Williamson made 30 at just over a run a ball. Opening the batting, Narine blasted 79 from 45 balls to set the foundation for the TKR victory. Shamar Springer took 3-32 for the visitors.

Barbados fielded a better balance of three foreigners, three locals, and three Trinidadians, while TKR were well-represented by six locals and three foreigners.

In the bottom-of-the-table clash at Beausejour on Sunday, Guyana beat St Lucia by six wickets with just one ball to spare. Medium pacer Rayad Emrit took 4-35, and miserly legspinner Rashid Khan two wickets for just nine runs from his four overs, as they restricted St Lucia to 152-8. Johnson Charles hit 53 from 32 balls, and Shane Watsonn 32 from 27. Chadwick Walton, Jason Mohammed and Gajanand Singh all hit 30s to guide Guyana to 153-4.

St Lucia and Guyana fielded three and four foreigners respectively, while they each put out three locals on the pitch.

The Trinbago Knight Riders established themselves as tournament favourites, when they won their top-of-the-table clash by four wickets, with just three balls to spare, in front of yet another packed crowd at Queen's Park Oval on Monday.

Sunil Narine took 2-26 to restrict St Kitts to 158-7, built around 30s from Bajans Shamar Brooks and Jonathan Carter. Denesh Ramdin carried TKR to victory with 59 not out from just 35 balls, and he received support from Colin Munro (36 from 30). Spinners Mohammed Nabi (2-12) and Samuel Badree (2-14) did most damage for the visitors.

TKR had their usual local representation of six Trinidadians and three foreigners, while once again St Kitts fielded just one Leeward player, four foreigners, and three Bajans.