CUL DE SAC--Caribbean General Contractors (CGC) Spartanz was crowned the inaugural Motorworld Twenty20 champions with a crushing 85 run win against Future Champs at Caribe Lumber Ballpark on Sunday.
In front of a near capacity-sized crowd, the Spartanz humbled the youth team in a one-sided affair.
The winners won the toss, and posted a challenging 172 for eight after 20 overs. Future Champs replied with 87 all out in 16.1 overs.
For Spartanz, Akeem Charles top scored with a stroked-filled 85 off 50 balls which was peppered with five fours and six sixes. His innings thrilled the crowd, especially when he clobbered the ball for those sixes.
Charles walked to the crease after Sherwin Peters, the leading run scorer of the tournament, was bowled behind his back by leg spinner Mrinal Wadhwa for 19 (1x4, 2x6). Wadhwa's energetic celebration, which included a celebratory run to the boundary with his teammates chasing him, was acknowledgement of the importance of the wicket.
After that celebration, Future Champs had a front seat view of the Charles' Show. The left-handed batsman was exquisite through the off side. He stroked a few inside-out shots that went effortlessly to the boundary. Also, two of his sixes were well-timed flicks that sailed far over the mid-wicket boundary.
He and Captain Kenroy David added 56 for the second wicket to make it 89 for two after10 overs. David, who decided to open the batting in this match, was dismissed on the stroke of the 10th over for 15 off 26 balls (2x4).
Charles then combined with Moreland Le Blanc for a 53 run partnership that further cemented the dominance of the batting team. And even though Spartanz lost the last five wickets for just 27 runs, Future Champs went into the dressing room at the inning break, knowing that they had a huge task ahead of them.
The chase started badly for Future Champs after the aggressive Lassie Gabriel hit a four, but then got out in that first over. Captain Daniel Doram came to the crease and played fluently for a top score of 24 off 19 balls (2x4, 1x6), but was dismissed to a short ball from Joel Brown after he pulled the previous ball for six. Those two dismissals came by the end of the fifth over, but Future Champs had already raced to 36 runs.
The Spartanz; nevertheless, tightened their lines and lengths to strangle the other batsmen thereafter. Even the free-scoring Shadrack Descarte struggled against the quality bowling attack. He laboured to 11 off 16 balls (2x1).
The only other significant scorer was Wadhwa with 24 off 32 balls (4x4).
For the Spartanz, Daryl Doram was the best bowler with three for 14 in four overs. The other wicket takers were Jean Rene Belizar 1.1-0-5-2, Joel Brown 3-0-18-2, Moreland Le Branc 4-0-16-1 and Arif Khan 3-0-29-1.
At the presentation, which was graced by the active involvement of President of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Dave Cameron, man of the match received gift vouchers which were donated by local businesses. Along with Cameron, Chairman of Cricket St. Maarten, sponsorship representative Imran Mc Sood Amjad and President of Cricket St. Maarten Dwayne Elgin made brief remarks at the presentation. Special recognitions were given to all umpires, commentators, scorers and grounds men for their invaluable contribution towards the Motorworld Twenty20 tournament.
