Scorpions battle fielding woes, Pride eye bowling fix - Teams meet in final West Indies Championship three-match fixture

KINGSTON:

With the three-match West Indies Championship series heading into Sunday's final game, both the Barbados Pride and Jamaica Scorpions are scrambling for last-minute improvements, but for starkly different reasons.

The second clash ended in a draw on Wednesday, a result that told only half the story. The Scorpions, batting first, posted 457, thanks largely to a fighting 114 from Kirk McKenzie Jr. and a near-ton of 96 from skipper John Campbell.

The Pride amassed a monstrous 626 for eight declared, powered by a masterful 176 from captain Kraigg Brathwaite and a fluent 105 from Kevin Wickham.

Batting a second time, Jamaica then reached 90 for four before both sides shook hands.

While the batsmen feasted, the bowlers toiled without a single five-wicket haul in the match. Peat Salmon was the most successful of the lot, returning four for 147 for the Scorpions.

CATCHING

Jamaica Scorpions head coach Robert Haynes says the Pride's 626 should never have happened.

"Well, first of all, I think we have to improve on the catching," Haynes said. "We dropped a few catches, which cost us, because honestly speaking, if we had taken those catches, Barbados would have probably made 300 or 400 runs, which would have been a better game."

Haynes pointed to individual improvements within his pace attack, but stressed the need for consistency.

"The bowling department, in terms of the new ball, Marquino Mindley is bowling excellently. He's bowling wicket to wicket. Ojay Shields is bowling with some pace, but the direction is a little bit off, and Odean Smith looked a lot better bowling in the second innings, in the second spell in this game.

"So it's coming, and we just have to get it right for the third game," noted Haynes.

NULLIFY OPENERS

Barbados' head coach Vasbert Drakes wants his troops to be more disciplined against the Scorpions' top order, particularly the left-handers.

"We have to just continue to play some decent cricket," Drakes said. "From a batting point of view, we seem to be going in the right trajectory and getting the scores that we can control the Jamaican bowling. But from a bowling point of view, we have Campbell and McKenzie who have got some really good starts and some good partnerships. So the objective is to ensure that we find ways to nullify that."

"Certainly, we're looking to obviously improve in that area as it relates to being able to bowl at them, especially the left-handers, with a little bit more control and a little bit more penetration. So, (there is) some work to do in that department. Let's see how it goes."

- CMC