CAPTAIN Jermaine Blackwood pointed to the Jamaica Scorpions’ lack of patience as a reason they were thoroughly outplayed and lost by nine wickets to Windward Islands Volcanoes on the penultimate afternoon of the regional four-day match at Sabina Park in Kingston.

He noted that the Scorpions never quite recovered, after making only 159 in their first innings. The batsmen flopped second time around and scored only 234 after the Volcanoes made 341 on a pitch that noticeably flattened out for batting on the second and third days.

Scores: Scorpions 159 & 234; Volcanoes 341 & 55-1.

“[The] batsmen need to stay as patient as possible as a team,” Blackwood told journalists during a post-match interview on Friday.

“We let ourselves down in the first innings… we were trying to get 300 [runs] but it didn’t happen. The batting group just has to regroup and come again. With this batting group that we have, we have a lot of depth. We just have to find a way to see off the new ball with minimal loss of wickets.

“I’m disappointed… in the batting, including myself and some of the senior players. We know the [Sabina Park] pitch normally plays better on the second day into the third day, so it was perfect for batting from yesterday [Thursday afternoon],” he said.

Kimani Melius, the Volcanoes skipper, acknowledged that winning the toss and choosing to bowl first in conditions which favoured the pace bowlers, due to the preparation moisture in the pitch, was an advantage.

Still, he credited his bowlers for grabbing five wickets in the first session of the opening day on Wednesday.

“I would say [winning the toss] was very critical. I told the guys we wanted to bowl first on this wicket and try to get as many as possible, like two wickets before lunch, [but] we actually got five,” he said.

While the Scorpions finished bottom in last season’s six-team competition the Volcanoes surprised some by taking second place behind Guyana Harpy Eagles.

Melius said the victorious start is a good platform on which to build for the rest of this campaign.

“It’s always good to start a tournament with a win. I must commend the guys… and special mention must be given to Ryan John, Johann Jeremiah, [and] Shamar Springer who all played a major part in us getting over the line,” he said.

On Friday the Scorpions resumed from their overnight score of 76-4 with Nkrumah Bonner on 36 and nightwatchman Gordon Bryan on one.

They took the score past 100 before Bonner (45) was trapped leg before wicket by Springer, and Abhijai Mansingh (11) was dismissed by medium pacer Shadrack Descarte on the stroke of lunch as the Scorpions entered the break at 131-6.

Such was the success of the Volcanoes pacers during the match that they didn’t introduce spin until the third day when off-break bowler Kenneth Dember was brought into the attack.

Dember was the man to end Bryan’s stubborn resistance for 31 early in the post-lunch session as the hosts slumped to 133-7.

The Scorpions wicketkeeper/batsman Morris, who was particularly impressive driving down the ground and through the off side, made a back-to-the-wall, 76-ball 68.

The left-handed strokemaker combined with Peat Salmon (15) and Derval Green (10) to lift the Scorpions past the 200-run mark before he was the last man out while trying to attack Springer.

Vocanoes fast bowler Daurius Martin, who was targeted a bit by Morris, finished with 4-85 from 16 overs while pacer Springer — who made a half-century in the first innings — and off spinner Dember took 2-30 and 2-53, respectively.

John, who claimed five wickets in the first innings and also made an attacking half-century, had 1-21.

Chasing only 53 runs to win the Volcanoes were never worried, despite losing Melius (four) early in their innings, and cantered to 55-1.

Left-handers Jeremy Solozano and Jeremiah were unbeaten on 29 and 22, respectively. Jeremiah was the top scorer in the Volcanoes’ first innings with a stylish 80.

In the other match hosted in Jamaica, Barbados Pride continued to dominate Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) at Chedwin Park in St Catherine.

CCC are to begin the final day on 96-2 in their second innings after Pride enforced the follow-on on the back of a 159-run, first-innings lead achieved on Friday.

Scores: Pride 344-8 declared; CCC 185 & 96-2.