Scorpions to take inspiration from semis

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Chadwick Walton hopes Jamaica Scorpions’ can use their record-breaking semi-final performance in Wednesday’s semi-final as inspiration when they meet tournament favourites Barbados Pride in the final of the Regional Super50 here Saturday.

“This will lift the morale of the team. We were getting starts and no one was carrying on. [In the semi-final] we had two centuries so I hope this will lift the morale of the team and we can take it from there,” said Walton who struck a career-best 117 in that semi-final against two-time reigning champions Trinidad and Tobago Red Force.

“The bowling was always good but the batting came to the party [in the semi-final] and we will see if we can put a complete game on the park come the finals.”

Sent in at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Scorpions piled up a massive 434 for four off their 50 overs – a record in regional 50-overs cricket.

Opener Walton led the way with a 117 – his maiden List A hundred – in a 174-run opening stand with American left-hander Steven Taylor who scored an aggressive 88.

Test batsman Jermaine Blackwood stroked an unbeaten 108 in a rollicking 163-run fourth wicket stand with Rovman Powell who blasted 95.

Powell returned with his medium pace to take his maiden List A five-wicket haul to bundle Red Force out for 142, and pull off an emphatic 292-run victory.

Walton said while the performance had been an exceptional one, Scorpions were aware the final meant starting over from scratch.

“It was something special but we still can’t take anything lightly,” the wicketkeeper explained.

“We still have a final to go and play and we still have to take it from ball one. This is history but we have to come now in the finals and start from the first delivery.”

Jamaica last lifted the Regional 50-overs crown back in 2012 when they defeated Trinidad in the final of the tournament held in Guyana.

That winning side featured the likes of superstar Chris Gayle and Andre Russell but with no plethora of stars available this time around, Walton said a victory on Saturday would be all the more special.

“Victory for this team would mean a lot to us. A lot of the big name players are not here including Chris Gayle and Andre Russell,” Walton pointed out. “So a victory for us would be [very good].”