BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – NEWTOWN and Sandy Point Cricket Clubs remain undefeated in the Nagico/Windsor University Keeth Arthurton T20 while Molineaux/Cayon and Haynes Smith achieved their first win.
In a weekend that saw four matches being played at the Conaree Cricket Complex, three of them were decided in the last over.
The first game of the weekend saw Len Harris Cricket Academy battling against Haynes Smith on Saturday morning.
Haynes Smith won the toss and chose to bowl, which gave their opponents steady start with Darren Hobson hitting a few boundaries. However, after losing a couple of quick wickets the batsmen had to consolidate in an effort to rebuild their innings.
Captain Akeem Saunders and Terrence Warde reconstructed the
Len Harris Cricket Academy's innings, with the latter stroking 27 runs and the former 40.
At the fall of the two men’s wickets, their innings failed to gather momentum and they were restricted to 118 for 6 in their allotted 20 overs.
Anthony Grant was Haynes Smith's standout bowler with 3 wickets for 17 runs.
In response, Haynes Smith got off to a very good start with Glen Rogers and Phillip Webbe sharing a partnership of over 50 runs, setting a solid foundation for the rest of the team. However, some tight overs by the Academy bowlers left Haynes Smith wanting three runs from the final over.
Warde took the ball and bowled a few dot balls to Justin Athanaze who then got two on the penultimate one. Needing one run off the final delivery, Athanaze played a defensive stroke and the two batsmen quickly took the single, giving Haynes Smith their first win in the tournament by seven wickets.
Anthony Grant was adjudged Man of the Match.
In the second game on Saturday, Molineaux/Cayon defeated Young Guns by six wickets to also record their first win.
Young Guns won the toss and chose to bat.
They stamped their authority early in the innings, scoring 48-0 off the first six overs. However, Molineaux/Cayon fought back in the middle overs and were able to restrict them to 126-7 of their 20 overs.
Top scoring for Young Guns was Bernard Island with 41 and Hayden Walsh Jr. chipped in with 31.
Leon Clarke, Jacques Taylor and Yannick Leonard had two wickets each.
Taking to the crease, Molineaux/Cayon recovered from a shaky start to make easy work of the Young Guns total.
Leading the charge for was captain Taylor who scored 60 not out and was ably supported by Leon Clarke who played a smart 31. He also finished not out.
Taylor was named Man of the Match.
Sunday also saw two games in the tournament.
In the first encounter, Sandy Point won the toss against Haynes Smith and elected to bat in what turned out to be the most exciting game of the tournament.
That team was restricted to a mere 90 runs in their knock behind a good Haynes Smith bowling performance.
Karim Warner led the Sandy Point's innings with 36 not out and was the main stay as wickets regularly fell around him.
In reply, Haynes Smith struggled to get any momentum early in their innings despite 25 from Colin Saddler.
They however found their footing when Sheldon Doyling went to the crease and turned the tide.
The final over of the game saw Haynes Smith needing 6 runs with Shane Jeffers taking responsibility to bowl that over.
After a tight five-ball spell, Haynes Smith needing three runs.
Jeffers bowled a quicker ball that flew past Doyling and was fumbled by the wicketkeeper. The keeper finally got the ball under control and after the batsmen stole a quick single. Jeffers then urged the wicketkeeper to throw the ball to him at the striker’s end but he ignored the call and the batsmen took a second run.
On seeing the batsmen going for the second run, the wicketkeeper threw the ball in the direction of the stumps at the non-striker’s end and missed, giving the batsmen the an opportunity for a third run. However, one of them was run out leaving the scores tied on 90.
The game then had to be decided by a super over.
Sandy Point batted first and scored 16 runs and Haynes Smith could have only muster nine.
Sandy Point remained undefeated so far in the tournament.
Shane Jeffers was named Man of the Match.
In the weekend’s final game, Newtown also remained undefeated after overcoming the Len Harris Cricket Academy by a solitary wicket.
The Academy won the toss and chose to bat and were bowled out for 87 in 17.4 overs.
Elsroy Powell picked up 3 wickets for 3 runs.
However, in response, Newtown was put under pressure in their run chase early in the innings and lost wickets at regular intervals. They were gifted four dropped catches. The last pair had carried the team across the line although a controversy brewed as to which of the batsmen should have been on strike.
