BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (CMC):Jamaica's coach André Coley has expressed delight with his team's win, after they crushed front-runners Guyana on the final day of their TCL West Indies Under-19 Challenge match yesterday.
Jamaica inflicted an innings and 50-run defeat on Guyana 25 minutes before lunch at the Edgar Gilbert Park, to move into second place in the standings on 27 points.
"Guyana were the front runners and our plan was to come at them as hard as possible," said Coley, who added that the match had been won on the first day.
"That plan worked better than we thought when they were dismissed for 66 and while it was (Jason) Dawes' initial spell which broke the batting, the supporting bowlers all really bowled well."
The former Jamaica first-class wicketkeeper said the win had left his team with a great chance of winning the competition in the final round.
Great performance
They are now just three points adrift of Guyana whoplay Barbados in the final round of matches starting tomorrow. Jamaica face struggling Windwards.
"This was a great performance but this match is now gone and we still have to play the last game as a new game and do well again to be successful," Coley noted.
"What is important here is that the guys will get a chance to have almost an extra day's rest as we head into the final round."
PATHETIC
Guyana's coach Huburn Evans, the former Guyana batsman, described his side's showing as pathetic but said the team possessed enough talent to hit back in the next round.
"We are the defending champions and we did not show any fight in this game. Jamaica won every session and it is hard to rebound from 66 all out on day one," Evans admitted.
"I think the guys need to work harder on the mental aspect of their game. I feel they are very talented and I expect them to bounce back in the last match.
"Today's (Tuesday) defeat puts more pressure on us now going into the last round but if we want to be champions we will have to play like champions in the final round. This result now makes the last round very competitive."
| Standings |
|---|
| P | W | L | D | Pts |
| Guyana | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 30 |
| Jamaica | 4 | 1 | - | 3 | 27 |
| Barbados | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 21 |
| T&T | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 21 |
| Leewards | 4 | - | - | 4 | 12 |
| Windwards | 4 | - | 2 | 2 | 9
|
