CHARLESTOWN, Nevis, July 12, 2010 (Press Release) - It has been long in coming because since the success of the early nineties and prior to that, Nevis has failed to secure a Leeward Islands championship trophy in the game of cricket. However, all of that changed on the evening of Sunday 11th July at the prestigious Sir Vivian Richards stadium when the Nevis team convincingly defeated their arch rivals and immediate neighbours, St.Kitts.
The action was staged in the inaugural 20/20 Leeward Islands Crciket series with all of the mathches staged in Antigua.
When former West Indies cricketer, Kenny Benjamin gave a live update of the tournament on Choice Radio’s Heart Search program on Sunday morning, he indicated that Antigua was out front on 12 points, having beaten St.Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla. Nevis was in joint second with St.Kitts on 8 points, having beaten Anguilla and Montserrat. The only way any of the second placed teams could challenge Antigua was if the Montserrat team created the upset of the tournament by defeating Antigua. A prospect that was so unlikely that Benjamin chuckled as he spoke.
When Montserrat met Antigua at 3.30 pm that afternoon, it seemed like a predictable foregone conclusion with Antigua off to a rapid start, getting up to 32 without loss. However, some rash shots bordering on cockiness set the stage for their demise. One such shot saw Mali Richards charging recklessly down the track to be superbly stumped by wicketkeeper Lane. Thereafter, the wheels fell off for the Antigua team and they were shockingly bowled out for 81.
The Nevis team could not believe their good fortune—they now had a chance to challenge Antigua for the trophy—but hold your breaths-- Montserrat had to make the runs first! If the cricketers and spectators had no heart problems prior to the Montserrat response, they must have had a few stutters as the Montserrat team struggled painfully throughout, finally getting the victory runs off the penultimate delivery of the final over—for the loss of 9 wickets.
Nevis then engaged St.Kitts with renewed spirit and chalked up an impressive 146 in their 20 overs. They however needed to restrict St.Kitts to below 132 runs in order to gain a superior run rate over Antigua. St.Kitts was restricted to 126 and the Nevisians let out all the built up tensions as they celebrated to a man. It meant therefore that Manager Malcolm Ramsey would have worked the magic ingredient to secure victory on his first outing with the team.
