Easy Wins for B'dos, Windwards

Favourites Barbados and the Windward Islands completed convincing victories in their opening round Red Stripe Bowl matches on Thursday.

The Windwards crushed Canada by 127 runs at Jamalco Sports Club in Jamaica behind an unbeaten 59 from skipper Rawl Lewis and three-wicket hauls eacch from Darren Sammy and Olanzo Jackson.

Batting first, the Windwards reached 196 for six from the allotted 50 overs with Lewis' 59 as the top score. Romel Currency's 42 and Kirsten Casimir's 24 were the other scores of note. In reply the Canadians were skittled out for 69 off 34.5 overs.

FINAL SCORES: Windwards 196-6 off 50 overs (Rawl Lewis 59 not out, Romel Currency 42, Kirsten Casimir 24; Sunil Dhaniram 3-15). Canada 69 all out off 34.5 overs (Ashish Bagai 24, Sunil Dhaniram 18; Darren Sammy 3-16, Olanzo Jackson 3-22).

At the Antigua Recreation Ground, Barbados romped to a seven-wicket win over the University of the West Indies (UWI) in a rain-affected game that was decided by the Duckworth/Lewis system.

After rain stopped play for almost four hours, the computations meant Barbados had to reach 176 from 29 overs and the strong Bajans hit off the target for the loss of three wickets. Skipper Courtney Browne was hit an undefeated 50 while opener Sherwin Campbell chipped in with 48.

FINAL SCORES: University of the West Indies 116-1 off 31.4 overs (Philo Wallace 39, Jason Haynes 35 not out, Jason Parris 33 not out). Barbados 176-3 off 26.2 overs (Courtney Browne 50 not out, Sherwin Campbell 48, Dale Richards 31; Ryan Cunningham 2-19).