Bridgetown, Barbados – Jamaica marched into the semifinals of the Caribbean Twenty20 after beating the Netherlands in a Group B clash by 8 wickets (with 16 balls remaining).
The Dutch won the toss and chose to bat first and were dismissed for 116 in 19.4 of their allotted 20 overs with Jamaican opening bowler and man-of-the-match, Krishmar Santokie capturing a hat-trick to lead their charge. He finished with 4 for 13 from 3.4 overs and got support from Nikita Miller with 3 for 22 from 4 overs.
Eric Szwarcynski top scored for the Netherlands with 44 and Johannes Myburgh supported with 35 as the rest of the batting crumbled.
In reply, Jamaica reached 118 for 2 in 17.2 overs to clinch a semifinal spot against the Windward Islands. Trinidad and Tobago are set to battle Barbados in the other semi.
Leading the chase were Nkrumah Bonner 35, Marlon Samuels 30 not out, Shawn Findlay 23 not out and Danza Hyatt 19.
The win for Jamaica ensured that Combined Campuses and Colleges had no real chance of making it to the semis set for today.
Group A matches ended Thursday last night with the Windward Islands finishing on top with four wins out of four, while reigning champions Trinidad and Tobago qualified in second place.
The 1st Semi-Final then will see Windward Is v Jamaica 2nd Semi-Final: Trinidad & T v Barbados.