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The Trinidad and Tobago side that turned up on the north coast of Jamaica yesterday might have felt they were still in the tourist resort of Gros Islet in St Lucia.

Subjected to pitches that assisted bowlers in their preliminary zone of the Red Stripe Bowl, they came here for a semifinal and approached batting at the Kaiser Sports Club in the same manner that they would have approached it at the Beausejour Stadium.

Mind you, the pitch offered some assistance to the faster bowlers in the early stages of the match and there was some inconsistent bounce later on, but it was no excuse from an inadequate Trinidad and Tobago total of 147 in 48 overs.

In light of how the surface played for the first 25 overs of last season's semifinals and final, it was all the more baffling why Trinidad and Tobago chose to bat first.

Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and Wavell Hinds would later show the Trinis how it should be done by wiping off the target in only 29.1 overs for the loss of three wickets.

It was Jamaica's fifth successive win in the tournament and the 2000 champions now await the winner of today's semifinal between Barbados and defending champions Guyana.

Yesterday's match was played before the biggest crowd of the tournament to date but the estimated 3 500 fans might have been expecting a much stiffer challenge from a Trinidad and Tobago side that included Brian Lara.

Jamaica, however, gained the initiative from early on the strength of fast bowler Darren Powell's early inroads. He removed openers Daren Ganga and Andy Jackson, along with Dwayne Bravo and the visitors never recovered.

Powell came back in a second spell to claim another two scalps and finished with the impressive figures of five for 23 from 10 overs.

Star batsman Lara hit the topscore of 36, but the double world record-holder was never at his best and battled for 70 balls before Gayle deceived him with a straight ball and trapped him lbw.

The only other batsman who provided any extended resistance was rookie Shazam Babwah, who made 30 off 46 balls batting at No. 7.

The quality of Jamaica's fielding was also impressive. Leon Garrick set the tone with a diving catch that accounted for Jackson, while Gayle featured in two run outs.

Jamaica lost Garrick to the last ball of the first over from Mervyn Dillon, but the innings was soon launched by Wavell Hinds' early aggression.

Hinds spanked Dillon for two off-side boundaries, but the West Indies fast bowler gained his revenge by breaking the second wicket stand of 56 when Hinds was bowled for 21 off 25 balls as he attempted a big drive.

The dismissal paved the way for the positive stroke-play of the left-handed Gayle and the right-handed Samuels, who added 83 in 17.2 overs.

Trinidad and Tobago had no clue how to stop the flow of runs, with Gayle smashing 56 off 77 balls, while Samuels was undefeated on 57 off 64 balls when he finished by the match by hoisting off-spinner Rodney Sooklal over long-off for his second six.

Samuels stroked five fours, while Gayle also banged five boundaries before giving a catch to long-on when only eight runs were needed or victory.

© Barbados Nation