By Tony Becca, Senior Sport EditorTHE CARIB Beer Series cricket match between Jamaica and India "A" ended, as expected, in a close finish at Sabina Park yesterday with the visitors surviving a brilliant spell of bowling by David Bernard Jnr. to win by two wickets shortly after lunch.
Going into the final day on 212 for five with Abhijit Kale on 50, Jai Yadav on eight, and needing 72 runs, India lost three wickets, were 235 for eight with the injured Murali Kartik to come and appeared in trouble before Lakshmipathy Balaji, 26, and man of the match Avishkar Salvi, 21, steered them to victory with an unbroken ninth-wicket partnership of 50. Final score: Jamaica 129 and 273, India "A" 119 and 285 for eight.
For Jamaica, it was a bitter disappointment as with the odds in favour of India "A", Bernard swung the match Jamaica's way after the home team had taken the second new ball with the score on 217 for five after 80 overs and after Yadav had welcomed it with a lovely drive through the covers off Daren Powell.
In a superb spell during which he took three wickets in 10 deliveries while conceding seven runs, Bernard, bowling fast-medium from the north, removed Kale for 55 at 221 for six - the batsman driving and edging to wicketkeeper Keith Hibbert, Ajay Ratra for a seven at 232 for seven - the batsman, backing away to steer a short delivery past slip, edging head high to Robert Samuels at first slip, Yadav for 16 at 235 for eight - the batsman hooking and lobbing a catch off the shoulder of the bat to substitute Brenton Parchment at backward square-leg.
At that stage, with Kartik to come but so injured that he was unlikely to survive the pace of the Jamaicans, the home team was on top and it appeared all over for the Indians.
Catches, however, win matches, and if they did not believe it before, Jamaica are sure to do so after yesterday when, after dropping two easy ones in the slips on the third afternoon, dropped another one yesterday when, with India "A" on 261 for eight, Salvi, the man who hit the winning runs, played forward and Daren Powell muffed what should have been a straight-forward catch.
The gods seldom help those who do not help themselves, and with the ball flying off the edge of the bats off both Baliji and Salvi on a number of occasions and dropping short of the wicketkeeper, slips and gully, Jamaica had no luck for the rest of the match.
At lunch, India "A" were 266 for eight, and although they were only 18 runs away, Jamaica still had a chance.
With pacer Jerome Taylor bowling too short, however, the match was over in 2.5 overs after the interval as Salvi, backing away and steering the ball past slip, picked up two valuable boundaries to thirdman - including the one that sealed victory for his team.
In winning the match, India "A" picked up 12 points and are now on 33 points with a match against West Indies "B" in hand. Jamaica, who led on first innings, were left with only four points and finished the preliminary round of the tournament on 43 points.
