Wednesday March 22nd, 2017, 7pm, Soufriere Mini Stadium
- Tristan Monrose 35*
The formula for River Roots before game 9 was easy on paper but harder in execution. They needed to get a win and a convincing win at that; to get not only the points but their Net Run Rate (NRR) up. If they could manage this they would give themselves the best chance at making it through the group ahead of Zenon. By securing the points they would hope that Zenon loses their next match and automatic qualification, if Zenon wins they would hope to have a superior NRR.
Challengers went against the grain and won the toss and chose to bat. River Roots got the perfect start and had them on the ropes early at 14/5 in 6 overs. The big win for River Roots at this point seemed inevitable. Tristan Monrose and Wayne Prospere had other ideas putting up a 6th wicket partnership of 68.
After getting Wayne Prospere out for 35 off 35, River Roots would have hoped to stem the tide of runs and re-engineer the capitulation of Challengers. Alas, the limits of their penetration into the lower order was made apparent with Bradley Tisson (previous game winner) coming to the crease. Tisson and Monrose put on 47 runs for the 7th wicket seeing Challengers to a score they would have taken before the game 129/6 in 20 overs. Monrose 35* off 41 and Tisson 27* off 15.
Bowling for River Roots saw Michael Francois snagging 4 for 10, Sanick George 1 for 13 and Leroy Edward 1 for 26.
The task now for River Roots was simply to get the points by chasing down these 130 runs. Shervin George put up a solid 46 off 43 balls aided by Daniel Emmanuel's 26 off 34. In the end there were just not enough overs and bowlers for Challengers kept River Roots at bay, limiting them to 104/6 off 20 overs. Challengers win by 26 runs and top the group with a perfect 3 for 3 wins. Top bowling by Wayne Prospere 2 for 10, Dalius Monrose 2 for 26 and Wade Clovis 1 for 4.
River Roots only hope of going through is for New D' Knights who have yet to win a game to pull off a strong win against Zenon on Sunday the 26th and get their NRR below River Roots' which now sits at -1.984 (Zenon currently at 1.349). Challengers now await the second place finisher of group 2 for their semi final on Saturday April 1st.
The current tournament standings are as follows in order of lead:
Group 1: Challengers 6 points (played 3), Zenon 2 points (played 2), River Roots 2 points (played 3), New D' Knights 0 points (played 2)
Group 2: Belfond 4 points (played 2), Fond St Jacques 2 points (played 2), Team Unite 2 points (played 2), Faith United 0 points (played 2)
Subject to change due to weather or unforeseen circumstances. Stay tuned here and on social media for updates.