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Jamaica (253-4) beat Barbados (176) by 77 runs.

Barbados' dream of accomplishing a first ever regional youth double was shattered yesterday by an efficient Jamaica side and their own baffling tactics.

Jamaica, winners of last season's inaugural limited-overs contest, convincingly outplayed the newly-crowned three-day Nortel West Indies Under-19 champions from the time David Bernard and Brenton Parchment provided the visitors with an opening stand of 146 in 34 overs.

Bernard made 101 off 116 balls before falling to the last delivery of the innings, while Parchment hit 65 from 116 balls, but almost everyone watching was stunned by a few puzzling tactics by Barbados.

Their two meanest bowlers in the shortened version of the game, Sulieman Benn and Ryan Austin, were brought on as the seventh and eight bowlers in spite of the fact that the openers played impressively in posting the first 50 in 13.3 overs and the second in only 7.5 overs.

Before the spin pair came on just before the half-way stage, Dwayne Smith and the unrelated Nurses, Vonrick and Rohan, were given seven overs when Barbados were desperately seeking a breakthrough.

As it turned out, Benn, a tall left-arm spinner, was Barbados' most economical bowler, his 10 overs costing a mere 26 runs.

When Barbados were chasing, the largest crowd of the tournament was even more shocked to see Vonrick Nurse come out to bat at No. 3. His eight previous innings in both forms of the championship were all in single-figures.

Rohan Nurse, who made 50 and 41 in the semifinal and final of the three-day competition, was also held back until No. 9.

Dropped four times

Even more mind-boggling was Smith's irresponsible approach in a brief innings in which he was dropped four times.

By then, Barbados were up against it. The crucial scalp was captain Ryan Hinds, who had little room when he attempted a cut and snicked a catch to the 'keeper off off-spinner Marlon Samuels.

Barbados were then 99 for three in the 23rd over; and after Smith and Vonrick Nurse went, the result was obvious long before the conclusion of the match.

Barbados' manager Darnley Boxill said the final 10 overs in which Jamaica scored 83 runs was where the match got away from his team.

He added that Austin might have come on late because of illness, but he admitted being surprised at a couple of decisions in the middle.

``I saw one or two strange tactics. I thought Benn would have come on pretty early and make things tight at the beginning,'' he said.

``I'm not trying to make any excuses. The captain was in charge. He made the decision, but we're not blaming him.''

The Barbados manager also conceded that Jamaica were the better side on the day.

``I don't want to take anything away from the Jamaicans. They were sharper and they played much better than we did,'' he said, while making reference to the demanding schedule.

``You could observe that the boys looked tired. In the last seven days, we played six days of cricket. That was pretty tough on the boys.''

Jamaica would have had a break while Barbados contested the three-day final against Trinidad and Tobago.

Also, they have been getting fine starts from Bernard and Parchment and their pair once again delivered in spite of two chances to Parchment when he was on seven and 30.

Bernard was strong on the cut and the drive and his most memorable shot was a square-drive off Callitos Lopez that took him to 85.

At that stage, Samuels had replaced Parchment who was bowled by Benn and was in the process of yet another commanding display. More than once he lifted Austin over extra-cover or straight down the ground and he had raced to 38 off 41 balls when Antonio Thomas held an excellent running catch on the long-on boundary.

Barbados made an encouraging reply, reaching 86 for one in the 20th over before falling away though their own fault.

Jason Haynes, the sheet anchor, eventually chanced his hand and walked.

Vonrick Nurse made the top score of 35 off 60 balls, but he appeared to be in a hurry at times before hitting a simple return catch.

But the most disappointing feature was Smith's carefree batting. After the proliferation of chances, he just avoided a hat-trick of misses when he was held at deep mid-on on the second attempt.

That typified Barbados' day.