ST AU­GUS­TINE, T&T – A ca­reer-best spell from leg-spin­ner Javed Lea­cock topped a blis­ter­ing 94 from Chad­wick Wal­ton, and Bar­ba­dos Pride beat de­fend­ing cham­pi­ons Ja­maica Scor­pi­ons by 47 runs in the West In­dies Su­per50 Cup at UWI Ground, St Au­gus­tine, yes­ter­day.

Lea­cock, play­ing on­ly his sixth List “A” match, grabbed four for 43 from eight overs, and the Scor­pi­ons, chas­ing 259 to win, were bowled out for 211 in 44.3 overs in the sixth match of the 50 overs-a-side tour­na­ment at the Frank Wor­rell Field.

Wal­ton smashed six fours and six six­es from 112 balls to lead the Scor­pi­ons bat­ting, Jeav­or Roy­al had a late flour­ish of 44 from 34 balls, and West In­dies Test vice-cap­tain Jer­maine Black­wood made a re­silient 30, but no oth­er bats­man reached dou­ble fig­ures.

Left-arm pac­er Do­minic Drakes, son of Pride head coach Vas­bert Drakes, the for­mer West In­dies all-rounder, took two for 14 from 3.3 overs, and Ros­ton Chase sup­port­ed with two for 37 from eight overs to keep things steady in the mid­dle of the Scor­pi­ons chase.

The re­sult gave the Pride, beat­en se­mi-fi­nal­ists last year, a win­ning start to the tour­na­ment, but it con­demned the Scor­pi­ons to a rock start to their de­fence, as they slid to their sec­ond de­feat in their first two match­es af­ter Lee­ward Is­lands Hur­ri­canes hum­bled them by eight wick­ets in a low-scor­ing con­test two days ear­li­er at the Bri­an Lara Crick­et Acad­e­my.

Scor­pi­ons en­tered the fi­nal 10 overs need­ing 81 to win, but Lea­cock foiled their plans for a dra­mat­ic fin­ish when he got Wal­ton caught at long-on in the 41st over.

Ear­li­er, half-cen­turies from Shamarh Brooks, and Pride and West In­dies One-day In­ter­na­tion­al cap­tain Shai Hope helped their side reached 258 for six af­ter they were sent in to bat.

Brooks struck three fours and one six in a 69 from 89 balls, and Hope sup­port­ed with 65 from 76 balls that in­clud­ed four fours and one six.

The tour­na­ment con­tin­ues with a dou­ble-head­er on Sat­ur­day when Lee­ward Is­lands face West In­dies Acad­e­my at Queen’s Park Oval in a con­test start­ing at 9 a.m. (East Caribbean Time), and Guyana Harpy Ea­gles meet hosts Trinidad & To­ba­go Red Force at the Bri­an Lara Crick­et Acad­e­my in a day-night con­test start­ing at 1 p.m. (EC Time).

Brief Scores

BAR­BA­DOS PRIDE 258 for six off 50 overs (Shamarh Brooks 69, Shai Hope 65, Kraigg Brath­waite 45, Do­minic Drakes 40 not out; Shaome Par­nell 2-33, Nichol­son Gor­don 2-41).

JA­MAICA SCOR­PI­ONS 211 all out off 44.3 overs (Chad­wick Wal­ton 94, Jeav­or Roy­al 44, Jer­maine Black­wood 30; Javed Lea­cock 4-43, Do­minic Drakes 2-14, Ros­ton Chase 2-37).

(CMC)