Commanding win!

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – West Indies batsman Shai Hope struck his second hundred in three days as Barbados Pride crowned themselves Regional Super50 champions with a commanding 59-run win over a listless Jamaica Scorpions in the championship final here yesterday.

In a day/night contest at Coolidge Cricket Ground which failed to live up to the anticipated expectations of a thriller, Pride overcame a batting stutter to dominate the Scorpions with bat and ball, and pick up their second regional 50-overs title in four years.

The victory also made up for their disappointment in last year’s campaign when they lost to Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in the final.

Choosing to bat first, Pride were propelled to a competitive 271 for nine off their 50 overs by Hope’s 101, the 23-year-old’s third List A hundred.

Captain Jason Holder lashed an aggressive 69 off 47 deliveries while opener Kevin Stoute weighed in with 41 and Kraigg Brathwaite, 22.

Medium pacer Rovman Powell, strangely handed just three overs, picked up two for 27 while part-time offspinner John Campbell claimed two for 35.

In reply, Scorpions were a shadow of the side that crushed Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in Wednesday’s first semi-finals and stumbled and stuttered to a disappointing 212 all out in the 45th over.

They were down and out at 122 for seven in the 31st