T20 Blaze: Brathwaite’s 18-ball 36 powers Barbados to 6-wicket win over Jamaica 

Barbados 111 for 4 (Brathwaite 36, Holder 23, Nation 3-22) beat Jamaica 110 for 6 (Bryce 33, Williams 31, Elliott 3-16) by 6 wickets 

17-year-old Eboni Brathwaite thrashed three sixes and an equal number of fours on her way to a match-winning 36 (18) as Barbados defeated Jamaica by 6 wickets earlier on Thursday. The victory is Barbados’ second in as many matches in Cricket West Indies’ Women’s T20 Blaze being contested at the Arnos Vale Playing Field in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. 

Brathwaite shared in a 27-ball 46-run opening stand with Trishan Holder, which pushed Barbados ahead of the game in their pursuit of 111. The off-spin of Chedean Nation (3-22) momentarily pulled things back for the Jamaicans when she accounted for Brathwaite and Naijanni Cumberbatch (4) in back-to-back overs at 54 for 2. 

A 34-run third-wicket partnership between Trishan Holder (23) and Asabi Callender, however, steadied the ship for Barbados, ensuring there was no pressure on skipper Aaliyah Alleyne when she walked to the crease with 23 runs needed from 37 balls.

A break in play to tend to Celina Whyte, who injured her knee while fielding on the boundary, might have contributed to the demise of Callender (18), who was caught at cover on the third delivery after the resumption. 

Still, Barbados were not to be denied victory, and they got over the line at 111 for 4 with 18 deliveries to spare, marshalled by Alleyne’s unbeaten 10-ball 19.

19-year-old Abigail Bryce had earlier starred for Jamaica, top-scoring with a run-a-ball shot-filled 33. The right-hander shared in a 66-run second-wicket stand with captain Rashada Williams (31) after Nation was adjudged LBW off the second delivery of the innings for a duck. 

Bryce was the first of Keila Elliott’s three victims, triggering a period where Jamaica lost 5 wickets for 18 runs to be restricted to 85 for 6 in the 16th over, before an unbroken partnership of 25 between Neisha-Ann Waisome (13*) and Chrishana McKenzie (9*) dragged them up to what was, at the time, the highest total of the competition—110 for 6.