Close Jamaica 339 and 314 for 7 (Russell 108*, Kidd 3-102) drew with Ireland 275
Scorecard
Jamaican all-rounder, Andre Russell, swung his way ferociously to 108 runs off 65 balls, as the final day of the Jamaica Cricket Festival match against Ireland petered out to a draw at Chedwin Park.
The game was called off with over a hour to play, but Russell excited the crowd with 10 massive sixes and seven fours as Jamaica chalked up a lead of 369 runs. This was the icing on a positive outing from the youngster, who earlier helped himself to 4-41 with the ball during Ireland's first innings of 275, which they carried over into the final day without adding to the score.
Russell was elated with his contribution over the three days but was particularly pleased with his four-wicket haul. "It was a typical innings for me, I got a few bad balls and I managed to put them away. It's my first hundred at this level so it means a lot to me, I'm very happy with my innings and my overall performance in this match," Russell said. "I'm more pleased with my bowling performance. I'm stepping up a notch and I can see that I'm improving at both aspects of my game."
Earlier in the day, opener Brenton Parchment scored 83 with opening partner, Danza Hyatt, battling to his second half-century of the match, ending with 53. The two registered a 100-run partnership, before Hyatt was removed by Andre Botha. The Jamaicans found themselves in a spot of bother shortly after lunch when they lost three wickets in quick succession. Donovan Pagan (16) went with the score on 158 runs before Horace Miller (0) and Brenton Parchment left shortly afterwards adding just one run between them.
In the end, with little to play for, both captains decided to call it a day with an eye on Wednesday's opening fifty over clash at the Kaiser Sports Club in Discovery Bay, St Ann.
William Porterfield was a little disappointed with some aspects of his team's play but was happy to be back in the warmth and was more than grateful for the opportunity to get much needed match practice ahead of their ICC World Twenty20 assignments.
"I thought our performance was pretty good and we got a chance to play some cricket again in the heat. We played some good cricket, I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get some more runs with the bat," said Porterfield. "A couple of guys spent some good time in the middle and got some fifties but it's unfortunate no one was able to push on and get a century."
Former West Indies player and Ireland coach, Phil Simmons, was not too disappointed with the result, but was hoping to see a better performance from his players with the bat.
"We had a couple of good days, I think we did well on a flat pitch to get them out for that score. They were going well at one point but we did well," Simmons said. "Batting-wise, we also had a good run because two or three guys got fifties but they are still getting acclimatised, we have only been here four days."