Going into the match on two points from two matches, and with Barbados on four from two and the Leeward Islands on four from three, Jamaica needed, not only to win the match and make it a three-way tie at the top, but they also needed to win comfortably to finish in the top two for a place in the semi-finals.
According to the rules, a tie at the top of the standings, would be broken by net runrate, and after scoring 209 for nine in the alloted 50 overs, Jamaica needed to dismiss or restrict Barbados to under 197 to make it.
Despite a lovely comeback after an early battering, however, they just failed to survive as Barbados, after a middle-order slide which saw them skidding to 174 for seven, hung on to reach 204 for nine off their allotted 49 overs and to win a place, along with the Leeward Islands, in the semi-finals.
Unlike Saturday when Jamaica, chasing a victory target of 182, lost Robert Samuels at one for one and Raymond Ferguson at 14 for two in a feeble start, yesterday, as far as not losing wickets was concerned, they got off to a fine start with Ferguson and Chris Gayle, opening the innings instead of Samuels who was dropped, posting 47 for the first wicket.
With Wavell Hinds playing some lovely attacking strokes after Tony Powell was brilliantly caught for seven at 69 for three in the 25th over, and newcomer Howard Harris keeping his company, Jamaica enjoyed a good fourth-wicket partnership of 39 off seven overs before Harris swung at medium-pacer Antonio Mayers and was bowled offstump for nine at 108 for four.
Straight six
Hinds, who smashed left-arm spinner Winston Reid for a glorious straight six, scored 47 off 55 deliveries before he drove Bryan to Sherwin Campbell in the covers at 118 for five, and when James Adams, the left-handed captain, tapped a catch off offspinner Floyd Reifer to Philo Wallace at short mid-on and departed the scene for 11 at 131 for six in the 38th over, Jamaica made a gallant effort through Nehemiah Perry and Brian Murphy who posted 45 runs off 6.3 overs for the seventh wicket.
To many around the ground, the final total was not good enough - not on a good batting pitch, and not against a team with five Test batsmen in the line-up - including the dangerous Wallace.
Powerful
It certainly did look so in the begining as Barbados raced to 34 without loss off five overs with Wallace smashing fast bowler Rose for 14 runs in his third over - a four to midwicket a huge six over wide long-on, and a clip off his legs so powerful that it beat Murphy who was right back on the square-leg boundary.
It did look so again when, despite losing Campbell - caught by Tony Powell at slip for 14 at 34 for one in the first over from offspinner Perry and enjoying good fortune when wicketkeeper Andre Coley failed to remove left-hander Adrian Griffith for two at 36 for one in the seventh over when he missed a legside catch off Rose, Barbados dashed to 83 for one in the 18th over.
Wallace was in superb form during that time - the big Bajan smashing the first three deliveries, all short, from right-arm legspinner Murphy for boundaries, and sweeping left-arm spinner Adams for three successive boundaries.
At that stage Barbados were well on top.
Suddenly, Gayle, in his first over, bowled Griffith for 17 at 83 for two, and when Wallace, going for a second run was runout for 59 at 104 for three in the 24th over, Jamaica, with the bowlers growing in confidence and the flow of runs dropping to a trickle, would have been in a lovely position to win a place in the semi-finals had Coley, who had a bad day, stumped Reifer off Gayle with the left-hander on 23 and the score 126 for three in the 33rd over.
Reifer, however, did not last long. He was bowled middle stump by pacer Kirk Powell, who replaced Laurie Williams in the team, for 27 at 136 for four two overs later, and when, with Barbados starting the 44th over on 162 for four and needing another 38 off six to win the match, Murphy bowled Roland Holder for 25 at 166 for five.