Barbados Cricket Association article.
Bridgetown, Barbados - LIME are the second team to be demoted twice from the top BCA three-day Championship in six seasons of promotion and relegation.
Their extremely remote chances of beating fellow pre-series relegation worried side CounterPoint Wanderers and remaining connected to the ten-ten competition were washed away on home turf at Wildey in a very wet climax to the 2014 Elite division season.
Torrential rain which swept across the island from early morning was so severe that there was only play at the well-appointed 3Ws Oval - and in the post-tea session - as Sagicor Life UWI wasted little time in crushing terminal bottom-placed Guardian General Barbados Youth who are exempt from demotion, by an innings and 59 runs, to finish runners-up to new runaway champions ICBL Empire whose success came in the centenary year of the great Bank Hall club.
LIME have now joined Police in being jolted from the major competition (rebranded Elite in 2012 from the more than century-old Division 1) for a second time since promotion/relegation started in 2009.
Police were demoted at the end of the 2010 and 2012 seasons and are yet to return to the top flight, while LIME were relegated after the 2011 season and returned in 2013.
It was also the last time that LIME (formerly known as Cable & Wireless, Barbados External Telecommunications and Cable & Wireless BET) were expected to play at Wildey after more than four decades, as the ground is up for sale. Informed sources say they are likely to return to their old venue at Boarded Hall.
For six straight rounds, LIME languished one from the bottom of the Points table, including the last five alone.
Plenty fibre and luck would have been needed for LIME to remain in the Elite division but the signals were dark from day break on the last day of the season with ugly clouds building in the southeast.
Officially, play was called off at Wildey at the scheduled 11:30 a.m. start to confirm a no-decision in a match which was blighted by rain from the very first day.
Responding to a first innings total of 152 for eight declared of 70.3 overs, LIME limped to 78 for seven off 23 overs at stumps on Day 2.
LIME ended the season on 58 points and joined Barbados Youth, who finished on 23 points and suffered seven defeats including four in succession by an innings, as the only teams without a victory.
Randy Thomas' team went into the last series on 54 points with three other teams mathematically also on the demotion radar - Brathwaite Construction/Republic Bank St. Catherine and Wanderers on 63 each and BFDSP on 61.
But prior to the last day of the season, St. Catherine had secured ten points against Massy Stores Spartan at Bayfield to clear themselves of relegation, and BDFSP were on course for a draw with ESA Field Pickwick at Paragon.
The bottom line was that LIME needed to win to avoid demotion but that is now history.
Wildey, formerly known as Banks and Banks Wildey, will return to the major division in 2015 for the first time since 2011 after capturing the First division Championship on Saturday.
There were a couple more personal achievements in the last series, which was the rescheduled Series 2.
Kavem Hodge, a 21-year-old Dominican in his second Elite division season, emulated his UWI team-mate Kyle Corbin in recording the most centuries (three) for 2014.
Starting the second day on 72 with UWI on 178 for six replying to a paltry first innings of 73, Hodge made 122 in 310 all out off 59.1 overs.
He reached his century in 144 minutes off 117 balls with 12 fours and all told struck 14 fours and one six in his 138-ball innings.
Jamaican Akeem Dewar, better known for his leg-spin bowling, lashed 90 not out off 95 balls with eight fours and four sixes - his first ever half-century - in his fourth consecutive season at the top level of local domestic competition.
Hodge and Dewar added 126 for the seventh wicket.
Barbados Youth, as had become the custom in the last three rounds, showed an improvement in their second innings and had closed on 155 for six before falling for 178 in 63.2 overs.
Renaldo Brathwaite of BDFSP missed out on a second century of the season and a career fourth by just one run, but he at least had the satisfaction of joining the 500-run club in a total of 177 for five responding to 250 all out.
Brathwaite's 99 carried his aggregate to 576.
At 3Ws Oval:
It took UWI just 10.2 overs in 33 minutes to complete their third win after play started at 3:15 p.m.
Dewar picked up two of the wickets to end with four for 39 off 19 overs in what was a generally disappointing season when compared with his returns of the previous two years.
Another leg-spinner Keron Cottoy, took three for 45 off 14.2 overs including the scalp of Javed Leacock, who added only one to his overnight score of 25.
Captain Zachary McCaskie topscored with 56 off 81 balls with six fours and one six. It was his only half-century of the season.
At Wildey:
Frustration is part and parcel of LIME when it comes to the drainage at their home ground. It was no different on the first two days and rain eventually had the final say.
On the second day, while the sun was out in all of its glory and the other teams were in the middle, LIME and Wanderers had to wait until 1:45 p.m. for a start of play.
Resuming on 110 for five off 48.1 overs, Wanderers scored 152 for eight off 70.3 overs to deny LIME hopes of the full four bowling points.
Renaldo Arthur, who started the day on 30 after going to the crease at No. 5, topscored with 47. He batted for 147 minutes, faced 137 balls and struck two boundaries before he was seventh out, bowled by pacer Javon Searles.
Arthur and captain Diego Stuart, who made 18 from his overweek ten, added 44 in 79 minutes off 24.5 overs for the sixth wicket. It was the best stand of the innings and clearly frustrated LIME.
Searles took three for 21 off 13.3 overs and off-spinner Ashley Nurse picked up three for 62 off 26 overs.
LIME were kept in check by new ball bowlers, leg-spinner Nikolai Charles and left-arm medium-pacer Raymon Reifer, who bowled 22 of the 23 overs in a close of play 78 for seven.
Captain Randy Thomas was unbeaten on 25 in 47 minutes off 43 balls, hitting two fours and one six. Opener Justin Brathwaite made 22.
Charles took four for 48 off 12 overs and Reifer, three for 28 off ten overs.
At Bank Hall:
Empire showed what true champions are made of by pulling themselves around from potentially being led on first innings for the only time this season.
After swiftly wrapping up the Maple first innings at 142 in 51.3 overs from an overweek 139 for nine - left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican took the last wicket to end with six for 45 off 16.3 overs as he moved to a season high tally to 59 - Empire went to tea in some bother on 72 for six off 36 overs.
But Warrican joined fast bowling all-rounder Justin Greaves in a seventh wicket partnership of 78, which helped in lifting the home side to 170 all out off 69.3 overs.
Greaves topscored with 56 not out in only his second innings of the season following an even, unbeaten century off Barbados Youth at the same venue in the previous series. He batted for 170 minutes, received 139 balls and hit six threes and two fours.
Warrican made 34 before becoming one of five wickets for off-spinner Ramon Greaves, who conceded 51 runs off 23.3 overs.
Former Barbados captain and West Indies seamer Corey Collymore, in his only match of the season, took two for 36 off 14 overs including the scalp of another former national captain and West Indies player, Ryan Hinds, who was bowled for seven.
It was only the second time Hinds had been dismissed in seven innings this season, which brought him 284 runs.
Maple had not scored after two overs in their second innings.
At Paragon:
There were mixed feelings and fortunes for Renaldo Brathwaite as the match ended on a no-decision.
On the second day, the diminutive BDFSP batsman joined two of his team-matches - captain Antonio Greenidge and Marlon Welcome-Goodman - in amassing 500 runs for the season but he was dismissed one run short of a second century.
Brathwaite was bowled by a quicker ball from Kyle Hope, the Pickwick captain who was trundling off-breaks in what turned out to be the day's last over.
It was Hope's only wicket of the season in what was the sixth innings he had bowled and the first since Series 5 against UWI when he sent down 11 overs at the 3Ws Oval.
Brathwaite occupied the crease for roughly four hours, faced 182 balls and hit four boundaries and three sixes.
With Dario Boyce (36), Brathwaite put on 74 for the second wicket, and 60 for the fifth wicket with left-hander Welcome-Goodman, who was unbeaten on 25.
Off-spinner Shane Jones took three for 57 off 24 consecutive overs.
Earlier, Pickwick, resuming on 230 for seven off 74 overs with Shai Hope on 74, were bowled out for 250 in 82.1 overs.
Hope was last out for 87, his highest score in four half-centuries for the season. All told, he batted for 315 minutes, faced 194 balls and counted four boundaries and one six.
Jade Padmore, who resumed on 35, made 38 in a stand of 94 with Shai Hope.
Right-arm medium-pacer Welcome-Goodman was the leading wicket-taker with three for 43 off 19 overs.
At Bayfield:
Spartan openers Akeem Springer and Reydon Toppin led a spirited fightback after St. Catherine gained a commanding first innings lead of 200.
The pair added 109 off 30 overs without being parted at stumps with Toppin on 55 and captain Springer 52.
It was Toppin's third fifty of the season and the only the second for Springer following his first innings 58.
From an overweek 126 for two, St. Catherine suffered an early setback when opener Omar Phillips was caught and bowled by off-spinner Jameel Stuart for 82 after resuming on 80.
But half-centuries from Neil Browne and wicket-keeper Tevyn Walcott helped them to 306 for eight declared in 81 overs.
Browne made 56 in two hours off 77 balls with two fours and one six, while Walcott was unbeaten on 55, which came in 110 minutes off 89 balls with two fours and two sixes.
Leg-spinner Aamir Thomas took three for 77 off 17 overs.
FINAL POINTS TABLE
Tabulate under: M-matches, W-won, L-lost, T-tied, D-drawn, ND-no-decision, MPTS-match points minus batting and bowling, BATP-batting points, BOWP-bowling points, TP-total points.
TEAMS M W L T D ND MPTS BATP BOWP TP
Empire 9 7 0 0 2 0 90 22 33 145
UWI 9 3 1 0 5 0 45 21 33 99
Maple 9 4 0 0 5 0 55 8 34 97
Pickwick 9 2 2 0 4 1 35 16 28 79
Spartan 9 3 2 0 4 0 34 14 28 76
St. Catherine 9 1 2 0 6 0 26 17 30 73
Wanderers 9 1 2 0 5 1 24 13 29 66
BDFSP 9 1 0 0 7 1 24 16 24 64
LIME 9 0 3 0 5 1 15 10 33 58
Barbados Youth 9 0 7 0 2 0 2 0 21 23
NB: LIME will be demoted to the Division 1 Championship in 2015. Wildey (formerly known as Banks and Banks Wildey) will be promoted after winning the First division.
NB: Barbados Youth are exempt from relegation.
First Published On bcacricket.org.
