by HAYDN GILL in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands CHARLOTTE AMALIE - Barbados duly completed their expected victory over the Leeward Islands within half-hour here yesterday morning, but, more significantly, the Windward Islands did them a huge favour in the evening. Seven hours after Barbados won by 173 runs at the Addelita Cancryn High School ground, Windwards pulled off a remarkable victory by 86 runs over joint pre-series leaders Trinidad and Tobago at Shaw Park in Tobago. It means that once Ryan Hinds' men avoid defeat against Trinidad and Tobago at the weekend, Barbados will be assured of regaining the Carib Beer Cup. "We are a step closer, but we still don't want to get into the Trinidad game over-confident," Hinds said. "We'll be looking to play a good all-round game there." Barbados' victory over the Leewards, attained 28 minutes into the final morning, was their second in succession and pushed them to 36 points ahead of the final round of preliminary matches. While the final result was inevitable, there was a bit of excitement in the limited play. Steve Liburd, a 20-year-old Kittitian playing only his second first-class match, remarkably moved from his overnight 43 to 95 with a calculated assault on Barbados spinners Ryan Austin and Ryan Hinds. In the seven overs the Leewards survived, another 54 runs were added before they were dismissed for 236. Liburd's domination was underlined to the extent that No. 11 did not score a single run. Liburd, who smacked three sixes and 12 fours in his unbeaten innings, also effectively retained the strike for most of the morning. He was very severe on Austin, whose three overs cost 33 runs, and Hinds, whose three went for 20. After the mayhem, Hinds brought on pacer Fidel Edwards who had the opportunity to bowl at Hamer at the start of the day's seventh over. It turned out be the last with Edwards knocking out Hamer's leg-stump with the final ball of the over. "We played really good team cricket. We set up the game nicely on the first day and we bowled really well on the second day," Hinds said after the game in which he was named Man-Of-The-Match for his two centuries. "Ian Bradshaw put up his hand to be counted. He was very impressive. Fidel Edwards bowled quickly. I was also impressed by Ryan Austin who is making a name for himself. He's been working really hard. It is nice to see him coming in and getting wickets." Austin undermined the Leewards second innings with a five-wicket haul that followed up his three wickets in the first innings. l haydngill@nation news.com Scoreboard BARBADOS 1st Innings 360 LEEWARD ISLANDS 1st Innings 258 BARBADOS 2nd Innings 307 LEEWARD ISLANDS 2nd Innings (overnight 172-9) S. Jeffers c Hinds b Austin 36 A. Richards c Hinds b Edwards 16 R. Morton b Hinds 31 *S. Joseph c Edwards b Austin 0 S. Liburd not out 95 W. Cornwall b Austin 0 O. Banks b Hinds 11 C. Simon c Holder b Austin 10 +A. Lesmond c Reifer b Austin 5 A. Sanford st Browne b Hinds 6 C. Hamer b Edwards 0 Extras (b7, lb4, nb15) 26 TOTAL (all out - 55 overs) 236 Fall of wickets: 1-26 (Richards), 2-82 (Jeffers), 3-82 (Joseph), 4-118 (Morton), 5-119 (Cornwall), 6-139 (Banks), 7-152 (Simon), 8-165 (Lesmond), 9-172 (Sanford), 10-236 (Hamer). Bowling: Edwards 6-0-23-2 (nb6), Bradshaw 5-2-15-0, Nurse 4-1-12-0, Hinds 22-1-83-2 (nb3), Austin 18-1-92-5 (nb3). Result: Barbados won by 173 runs at 9:58 a.m. Points: Barbados 12, Leewards 0. Man-Of-The-Match: Ryan Hinds. Umpires: Clancy Mack (Antigua), Goaland Greaves (St Vincent). Stand-by: Howard Gumbs (St Thomas). Match referee: Bernard Douglas.
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