As the second match of a high-stakes three-match bilateral cricket series kicks off on Thursday morning at Kingston’s Sabina Park, Robert Haynes, head coach of the Jamaica Scorpions, has issued a stark warning to his squad: drop the first win from your minds and stay hungry against the Barbados Pride.
With a spot in the West Indies Championship four-day final and play-off advancement hanging in the balance, the series is far from decided despite the Scorpions’ dramatic opening match victory. Last week at Chedwin Park in St Catherine, the Jamaican side pulled off a stunning seven-wicket win on the final day of the opening encounter to take an early series lead.
“That was a fantastic result for us, but we cannot afford to get complacent. We have to put that win behind us and focus on this new contest,” Haynes emphasized ahead of Thursday’s 10 a.m. start.
The opening clash delivered no shortage of standout individual performances from both sides. Jamaica’s left-handed opening pair John Campbell and Kirk McKenzie each hit centuries in the second innings, while Barbados middle-order batter Kevin Wickham became the match’s only player to score a century in both innings. On the bowling side, Scorpions paceman Marquino Mindley claimed seven match wickets, and Pride left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican finished with six.
In the six-team overall championship standings, the opening result pushed the Scorpions to second place with 22 accumulated points. Barbados currently sit fifth with just five points. Early table leaders Trinidad and Tobago hold a narrow edge at the top with 22.6 points, following their opening win over Leeward Islands, who picked up only 1.8 points. Defending champions Guyana Harpy Eagles are third with 21.4 points after a comfortable victory against Windward Islands Volcanoes, who have 5.8 points.
Haynes noted that while his side’s batting clicked into high gear on the slow, low-bouncing Chedwin Park pitch – where they chased 326 runs for the loss of just three wickets in 61 overs to secure victory – his bowling unit still has room to sharpen up ahead of the second match.
“We’ve got the first points on the board, now we need to approach this match like it’s the start of a whole new series. Barbados has always been a tough, competitive opponent, and even with their new lineup changes, our goal is to play even better than we did last week,” the coach added. “With batting, we just need to stick to our process between breaks. For bowling, we need to hit a straighter line more consistently – though we expect the Sabina Park pitch to play differently than the surface at Chedwin Park.”
Jamaica will field an unchanged 13-man squad from the opening match, but Barbados has received a major boost with the addition of West Indies Test captain Roston Chase, who replaces Shian Brathwaite, who did not feature in last week’s playing eleven.
Pride captain Kraigg Brathwaite acknowledged his side entered the first match as slight pre-series favorites, thanks to strong recent results and a perceived experience edge. Now, he says the team must lift its performance to stay in the series hunt.
“The first result just proves how competitive Jamaica is, so we know we have to step our game up another level,” Brathwaite told the Jamaica Observer. “Jamaica is always a tough side to beat at home, they’re well-led by John Campbell right now, but we’re focused on bouncing back. One big difference is the pitch: most of our players are more familiar with Sabina Park’s conditions, so that should work in our favor.”
Brathwaite stressed the three-match series remains completely open, with nothing decided after one game. “This is a best-of-three series, you need to win two matches to take it, not just one. There’s still everything to play for here,” he said.
The third and final match of the bilateral series is scheduled to take place from April 26 to 29, also at Sabina Park in Kingston.
### Full Squads
**Jamaica Scorpions**: John Campbell, Brad Barnes, Carlos Brown, Javelle Glenn, Brandon King, Abhijai Mansingh, Kirk McKenzie, Marquino Mindley, Romaine Morris, Jeavor Royal, Peat Salmon, Ojay Shields, Odean Smith
**Barbados Pride**: Kraigg Brathwaite, Roston Chase, Joshua Bishop, Jediah Blades, Leniko Boucher, Jonathan Drakes, Johann Layne, Kyle Mayers, Jair McAllister, Shayne Moseley, Shamar Springer, Jomel Warrican, Kevin Wickham