CUL DE SAC-NAGICO United cricketers were crowned the new Twenty20 champions after defeating arch rival CGC Spartanz by 21 runs at Caribe Lumber Ballpark, yesterday.
NAGICO cricketers finally were able to raise the championship trophy after having to play second fiddle to Spartanz for more than five years.
After posting a less-than-impressive 146, the Spartanz were choked to 125 for five in 20 overs.
Man of the match, Romain Doodnauth, featured significantly in restricting the opposition with stingy bowling figures of three for 11 in four overs. Captain of the champions Colin Hamer got the best out of Doodnauth, who as a former Captain presided over many heart-breaking losses against yesterday's sub-champions.
After Spartanz had galloped to 42 without loss after just four overs through Captain Kenroy David and Keacy Carty, Doodnauth was introduced into the attack and had David trapped in front with his fourth ball. David slammed 23 off only eight balls (5x4). His departure momentarily stalled the run chase which resulted in the quick dismissal of Akeem Charles for two off the bowling of the match. But then a 42-run partnership between Carty and Daniel Doram shifted the balance in favour of the batting team. Doodnauth was again introduced into the attack and immediately removed Doram for 12 off 18 balls (1x4).
By now, Spartanz was looking to Carty to steer the team to victory. The 2016 U19 star decided to take his aggression up a notch. His slog sweep was mistimed and was caught, this time, by Anil Persaud who dropped him earlier in his inning. Carty stroked 64 off 52 balls (8x4, 2x6).
He departed with the score on 110 off 17 overs. The support cast was left with the mammoth task of scoring 37 off the last three overs, but they only scored 15 runs as the NAGICO bowlers bowled accurately in the last three overs.
NAGICO's total was built around contributions from Lassie Gabriel with 33 off 16 balls (4x4, 2x6), Moreland Le Blanc with 30 off 33 balls (4x4) and Shane Burton with 24 off 11 balls (2x4, 1x6).
The best bowler for Spartanz was Charles with two for 28 off four overs.
In the first match, WINAIR Conquerors and Masters played for the third-place trophy. The Masters posted a challenging 159 for three in 20 overs. The Conquerors responded with a clinical performance to complete the win in 17.3 overs.
At the presentation, where brief remarks were made by Cricket St. Maarten president Dwayne Elgin, the outstanding players received their awards.
The player with the most runs for each team was given a trophy. For NAGICO, it was Gabriel with 277 runs, Carty for Spartanz with 173 runs, Gregorio Ritchie with 212 runs and Randy Christopher for Masters with 95 runs.
The player with the most wickets for each team was also handed a trophy also. For Spartanz it was Arif Khan with 11 wickets, for NAGICO it was Moreland Le Blanc with seven wickets, for Conquerors it was Chetram Ram with six wickets and for Masters it was Cornelius Dupie with four wickets.
