CUL DE SAC—Cricket fans were treated to a tense finish in a Prime Pepsi Cup cricket match between NAGICO United Cricket Club and B&C Spartans, in which, the latter emerged as the winner by two wickets.
The last match of the second round in the two-match knockout tournament had all the twists and thrills of a great James Bond action movie. NAGICO won the toss and decided to bat first on, now what looks like the true batting friendly pitch which is synonymous to Caribe Lumber Ballpark. They posted a below par 203 all out in 35.4 overs as 14.2 overs went to waste. Spartans replied with 205 for eight in 44.2 overs. Stephen Evans trusted his batting skill and also the pitch to single-handed clobbered the bowlers around the park as NAGICO raced to 42 after a mere three overs. His partner opening Keith Carty who faced his first ball at the start of the fourth over was bowled by Captain Moreland Le Blanc for naught. By then, Evans had propelled the score to 42.
More trouble befell NAGICO when Romain Doodnauth (2) was smartly caught at second slip off medium pacer Kenroy David and then overseas player Tonito Willet (0) edged the first ball he received to the wicket keeper who gleefully accepted the catch (45 for 3). Dwayne Elgin combined with Evans as the pair added 37 for the fourth wicket. Elgin (4) was then pushed to sacrifice his wicket for Evans via the run out route after the latter thought there was a second run while his partner thought otherwise (82 for 4).
Captain Lionel Ritchie with his team on the ropes strode to the crease to join Evans. Another comical mix up between Evans and Ritchie this time saw the dismissal of Evans for 69 off 52 balls with 13 fours and one six. Ritchie’s 30 off 50 balls, Gary Solomon’s run-a-ball 33 and Boodram Sukhdeo’s 18 off 17 balls were largely responsible for getting the score over the 200-mark. Off spinner Jean Rene Belizar with three for 31 in seven overs, Kenroy David two for 31 in six overs, Colin Hamer one for three in one over and Le Blanc one for 48 in nine overs were the wicket takers. The Spartans top order batsmen in Sheldon Le Blanc (3), Sherwin Peters (0) and Moreland Le Blanc (1) folded cheaply in reply.
The new ball bowlers in Willet and Marlon Brutus dismantled the top three with only seven runs on the board. Nevertheless, David played fluently for a crucial 34 off 37 balls with five fours and one six as he and Akeem Charles set up a launching pad with a 72 run partnership. Even after the dismissal of David, Charles and Williams added a further 57 runs for the fifth wicket. Charles who perhaps played the best inning of his life yet, stroked 47 off 80 balls that was decorated with four fours and two sixes. Like David, Charles got out too soon for the evenly divided crowd. Williams who batted with a lot of commonsense, by now was a sure anchor for the Spartans. With the score on 134 for five, Williams coached the lower batsmen into batting responsibly. Hamer scored nine (162 for 6), Jean Rene Belizar 12 (184 for 7) and Daryl Duram used up four balls for his naught (195 for 8).
National U-15 captain Othman Isis came to the crease with Willet bowling fast and straight. Isis successfully defended a sharp fast delivery in the block hole and went on to defend five more balls to hold up an end for the rampant Williams. The victory was achieved when Williams drove Willet to the long on boundary for four which kicked his teammates and supporters into a celebratory mood. Williams who was named man of the match was unbeaten on 69 off 89 deliveries with six well hit fours. Brutus, Willet and Solomon picked up two wickets each.
The Spartans will now play Rams Crusaders on February 21. But, before that match, WIB Pioneers are scheduled to face WINAIR Conquerors on February 7 and NAGICO will do battle against ELECTEC Lucians United on February 14.
