FSJ top group but a valiant effort by New D Knights in too big a chase.
Belfond book spot in semis
These teams met in a match to determine which team will get into the semi finals. Dotcom Renegades won the toss and chose to bowl a good decision on this pitch and the potential of weather being a factor. They got off to great start getting both openers out for 0 and Challengers on 1 for 2. The pitch had lots it for bowlers who could put the ball in the right spot as it skidded on and had bounce as well. C. Emmanuel (84 off 57) and W. Clovis (49 for 37) took the reigns of the innings with a massive partnership of 132. Emmanuel showed his strength and powered the ball to and over the boundary at will after they settled down the innings. Challengers got to 167 for 6 a great score on this pitch. 3 for 37 for C. St Rose led the bowlers.
The Renegades needed a decent start. Opener M. Pamphile (35 off 16) did his best at the onset but the Renegades kept losing wickets regularly. Good bowling all round by the team and great catching helped Challengers as the Renegades capitulated to 111 all out. Three bowlers got 2 wickets a piece W. Prospere (2 for 12), W. Clovis (2 for 21), S. Isidore (2 for 17) with 1 a piece from B. Tisson, C. Emmanuel and L. Edward. 3 catches by B. Tisson were also a highlight of this game as Challengers caught almost anything. With that win Challengers
Zenon fans showed up big to see their team attempt to go 3 for 3 in Group A and lock in the top spot going into the semis. They won the toss and went into bat and bat they did. V. Smith scored a blistering 90 off 37. Zenon batsmen were middling almost everything and when they didn't everything fell perfectly in the field. It didn't help that Barons Drive were playing short. Knock of 33 off 19 by A. Hippolyte and other contributions other players brought Zenon to SoufriereT20 highest ever score of 229 all out in 20 overs.
With no J. Charles and 2 hurt players in the squad this would be a mammoth task for Barons Drive. They started off well not losing wickets but not scoring at the rate required to get to this total. They lost their 1st wicket on 24 then another followed. K. Prospere top scored with 19 he was one of 3 double digit scorers, X. Emmanuel (12) and K. Augustin (16). In the end this total was to much they fell to 69 for 8 with 2 players retired hurt at the end and short they had little chance. Zenon lock in all 6 points and will await the runner up in Group B in the semi finals
FSJ won the toss and decided to bat. Opener G. Prospere was the star of the innings knocking tournament highest 86 of 64 balls. K. Jules in the middle overs also had a key contribution of 34 off 25. FSJ lost wickets around these two batsmen but were able to post up then tournament highest 161 for 7. 2 for 28 for W. Clovis lead the bowling.
Challengers had a big task ahead. They got off to a good start with J. Simon knocking 51 off 30 before being run out at 75 for 2. The wickets fell steadily thereafter at 80, 94, 99, 100, 101, 113, 113, 113. W. Clovis (12) and L. Edward (11) were only other double digit scorers. Final 3 wickets gave saw a hat trick from A. Prospere to polish off Challengers and see FSJ get 4 points in group locking them into the semis. Challengers will need a win in their last group game to go through. A. Prospere (3 for 5) and D. Clement (3 for 19) did the brunt of the damage for FSJ.
New D Knights won the toss and chose to bat. They lost opener D. Monrose on 9 for 1 but opener O. Changoo (27 runs from 23) was able to build the score up to 41 before he lost partner N. Edumund (3 runs from 16), Changoo also fell with the total on 41. Wickets were steadily falling with C. Calendar getting 22 off 21 to help bring up the total in the middle innings. R. Hippolyte's 19 off 32 was also useful on the way to get New D Knights a score of 114 all out in 19.4. S. Pamphile was peak of bowlers with 3 for 22.
This was not much of a total for the Renegades. 3 batsmen got 20's on the way to knocking this meager total off in 14.1 overs. Renegades reach 115 for 3 and put themselves in a position to win their last game to get into the semis.
It was a wild Wednesday night in Soufriere as two teams desperate for a do or die win faced off in the SoufriereT20. Both teams fell short in their first group games and were looking to make amends. Faith United having won the toss chose to bat. They lost the wicket of V. Crandon early on 5 for 1 but opener T. Gabriel (36 runs) and J. Eugene (10 runs) helped build the total to 41 for 2 when Eugene got caught behind. D. Thomas came in and played a brilliant knock top scoring for Faith with 45. He lost Gabriel on 68 for 3 but along with J. Charles (27 runs) put up a 77 run partnership which got them to 145 for 4 when he got run out. They manage to post up a big total on this pitch of 158 for 6, highest in the tournament so far. Peak of the bowlers was a very impressive K. Augustin with 2 for 20 off his 4 overs. Baron's Drives poor fielding and extras added to an already healthy total.
Barons Drive with the most dominant opening pair in the tournament of J. Sylvester and J. Charles would hope to have a good start. They did just that getting off to a flyer with Charles showing his power and Sylvester giving good support from the other end. The pair put on an opening stand of 75 in 43 balls before Sylvester got caught to the bowling of J. Eugene for 25 off 24 balls. Spin had done the trick for Faith United and they introduced it from both ends to stem the tide that was Barons Drive's power hitting.
The seasoned K. Prospere came to the crease and showed support for Charles by staying there with a 27 run partnership. Charles the danger man was caught out in the boundary by D. Thomas again to Eugene's bowling. He got 67 off 39 balls hitting 8 sixes and 3 fours. This was a big one for Faith and they knew that something could happen. They struck again right away with the new batsman S. Paul getting out for duck, 102 for 3. Then again with Prospere getting out for 4 from 15, 109 for 4. R. Hippolyte's 8 runs and T. Monrose's 9 runs helped inch Barons Drive closer to the total but they too fell on the way in this chase leaving the young X. Emmanuel and K. Augustin as the final pair during the last over.
They required 6 off of the last 2 balls in a final over bowled by D. Francis. Augustin pushed for a single leaving 5 needed off the final delivery. Emmanuel flashes at the final ball gets a top edge which raced away to the boundary for 4 leaving the game tied! The crowd was in disbelief as to what they just witnessed. We were going to a super over.
Barons Drive's opening pair of J. Sylvester and J. Charles came back for the super over which was no surprise. Charles facing smashed a 4 then was caught out again on the boundary straight to the bowling of Eugene. Propsere came in and ran a hard but gettable 2 but Sylvester came up short and was run out leaving only 5 total in the super over and 6 to win.
Faith batsmen came in and got 4 right away to the bowling of Augustin. With the field closed in they still managed to get a single. A dot ball passed and they needed just 1 off 3. The batsman whips it over the infield on the on side for four giving them a big victory as their team stormed the field in celebration. They now put themself in a position to get out of their group in their last group game against Belfond. The winner of that game will go through from the group.
It was Super Sunday and boy was it super. Zenon and Belfond two favourites and rivals were at it again in the 2018 edition in what was billed as a clash of titans and it lived up to the hype. The atmosphere was electric from the get go as Zenon won the toss and went in to bat.
V. St Ange and T. Hippolyte opened up the batting for Zenon. St Ange was dismissed by B. Bess early at 5 for 1. T. Hippolyte struggled to get runs and was out on 4 off 17 balls. V. Smith and A. Hippolyte buoyed the innings smashing some big ones with Smith getting top score of 30 off 26 before getting out stumped with Zenon on 63 for 3. D. Hippolyte came to the crease faced 3 balls and was dismissed on 0 leaving Zenon in a spot of bother on 63 for 4. A. Hippolyte followed suit getting a vital 20 off 10. With Zenon on 67 for 5 they needed some stability. M. Sammy provided that knocking 25 off 20 balls before losing his batting opposite S. Mesmain on 4. Zenon now 89 for 6 would still need more on the board to trouble Belfond. Sammy's wicket followed with Zenon on 111 for 7.
The crowd got the feeling that every run was vital in this potentially close game. Zenon found themselves on 120 for 9. Some useful runs by M. Xavier, D. Alfred and D St Pierre at the end helped bring the total up to 140 all out for all 20 overs. Best of the bowlers was S. Augustine with 4 for 14. Bess and Richardson got 3 and 2 scalps respectively.
Zenon had posted up a very defendable total but Belfond had the batting to get these runs. Belfond could not have had a better start to this chase. S. Naitram and C. Richardson proving to be true pros applying themselves and gathering almost every run available in the field to them against very tight Zenon bowling and fielding. The pair put up 61 before the first wicket of Richardson fell having scored 32 from 51. The next wicket of J. Henry fell not too long afterwards on 74 for 2. But Naitram was still at the crease and there were plenty of wickets in hand.
The 3rd wicket of G. Michell fell at 101 after a useful 13 from 16 balls. T. Gifford came in and aided Naitram who managed to get to 55 before getting out caught in the deep. The set batsman was gone, the bowling was tightening, the fielders' were ready to pounce on anything and the tension in this game began to build as every ball swayed the balance of this game and the crowd reacted to this
Gifford got out on 125 for 5 and the required run rate was creeping up. The balls were 10 fewer than the runs at this stage. Another wicket tumbled that of Bess it was 128 for 6 then S. Augustin fell for 0 it was 129 for 7. It was up to D. Didier and K. Michel to see Belfond home as the last over required some big hitting. V. Smith had the last over and was spot on. The batsmen could not free their arms and get much. They needed 9 off of the last 2 balls. They would fall short by 7 as they were unable to capitalise due to spot on bowling. D. Alfred and D. St Pierre grab 2 wickets a piece. Along with Smith, St Ange and Mesmain the bowlers did enough to defend a getable total by capable batting team.
Zenon hold on and win this one taking a big leap towards getting out of the group with 2 wins out of 2. Belfond will feel like they had this one but still have fate in their hands as their focus must now be on Faith United.
Challengers and qualifiers New D Knights opened their group account on Saturday night. Challengers won the toss and decided to bat. A wise decision as they were able to amass runs relatively easily. Spearheaded by J. Simon's top score of 67 off 57 and C. Emmanuel's 34 off 35 they were able to reach 148 for 7 in their full quota of overs. T. Desir was the best of the bowlers grabbing 2 for 35.
From the get go New D Knights struggled as wickets kept tumbling. From 16 for 1 to 16 for 2 then before they new it they were 5 down for 42 and 6 down for 43. They were getting dominated by Challenger's bowling which saw W. Clovis 3 for 9, I. Edward 2 for 5, J. Gassie 2 for 26, W. Prospere and C Emmanuel each with 1 wicket. A dramatic collapse by New D Knights as they ended their innings on 65 losing by 83 runs.
Challengers start with a big win setting the pace in their group. New D Knights will need to apply themselves with the bat in their next encounter as every match is not do or die in the SoufriereT20
A Group A thriller. Belfond and Barons Drive are two of the teams that would hope to come out of a tough group but face each other first up in their opening group match. Barons Drive won the toss and sent in Belfond to bat. Having successfully limited Veterans to a low score the previous night they would aim to do so again.
The accumulation of runs was steady albeit slow with intermittent wickets falling at bad times for Belfond not allowing them to build up a strong innings. G. Michel and S. Naitram guided the innings with knocks of 36 and 20 respectively leading all batsmen. Only N. Smith and C. Richardson managed to get to double digits as well. This game was beginning to feel like the previous night's where runs were hard to get against solid Barons Drive bowling. Bowling led by K. Augustin (3 for 22) and K. Prospere (3 for 26). M. Paul (2 for 13), J. Charles (1 for 21) and J. Sylvester (1 for 16) all aided in restricting Belfond to 101 all out in the final over.
With another meager total to chase J. Sylvester and J. Charles came out hoping to repeat the previous night's heroics. However, Belfond had other plans, there would be no carbon copy of Veterans run defense. Windies' J. Charles got caught behind to some good bowling from T. Gifford for 8 runs. The opening pair would not dominate this whole game which gave the Belfond team and supporters some hope in defense of the small total.
Then X. Emmanuel came to the crease and along with J. Sylvester helped steer the innings in the right direction for Barons Drive. The pair managed to slowly build the total up to 44 before Sylvester got out on 21 from 28 balls. Emmanuel was joined at the crease by K. Prospere and the two again gathered the singles and got the score up to 66 before Emmanuel got out for a top score of 22 off 33. Belfond was seeing some light at the end of the tunnel at this point having removed a set batsman.
An ill advised shot by K. Prospere saw him bowled by S. Augustine with the score still on 66. At this point all Barons Drive needed was about a run a ball so the 1's and 2's would get them home. T. Monrose came in and managed to chip in with 4 in singles before being run out by T. Gifford with a stunning direct hit from over 20 yards out.
There was still hope for Barons Drive with the required run rate being getable but the wicket column was stacking up at an alarming rate. When Belfond broke into the tail there was the sense that their victory was imminent and sure enough C. Richardson's bowling saw to that. He got rid of batsmen 9, 10 and 11 in successive balls for a stunning hat trick to end the innings.
Belfond flexed their bowling might with a crucial win in a tough group. Richardson was the peak of the bowlers with 3 for 5, aided by a wicket a piece from Gifford, Lesmond, Augustine and Didier. Belfond proved to be an all round bowling menace. All teams will take notice as they will feel like they can defend any reasonable total
In the 3rd attempt to complete this qualifier after having been affected by rain twice before we finally got a game. Veterans won the toss and seemed eager to have bat in hand. The runs were few and far between but the wickets were steady. Veterans found themselves on 25/5 and soaking up deliveries. The technical ability and will was there for some of the batsmen but the years of rust and lack of fitness was showing on most. V. Sylvester showed some youthfulness however staying at the crease and eager to gain every run available. He managed to top score with 14 runs aided by 12 from V. Deligny and 11 by M. Mangroo. Those were the only batsmen to hit double digits as Veterans pushed their way to 83 all out in the final over, managing to hit 3 sixes and 1 four on the way which was to the delight of the crowd.
No one expected this to be much of struggle for Barons Drive to chase down expecially with J. Sylvester and J. Charles opening. The opening pair put on a show and made light work of the total with Charles hitting 55 off 19 and Sylvester 28 off 21. The pair scored in boundaries, hitting 5 fours and 8 sixes between them spending only 42 minutes at the crease and getting Barons Drive comfortably into Group A where they will face stiffer competition.
Barons Drive will be right back into the fray and face Belfond Friday March 9th at 6pm in what will be a challenging group encounter.
The opening Group B fixture on paper was going to be a good one and boy did it deliver. Jacques United won the toss and chose to bat. They failed to get a footing in the game at the onset falling to 16 for 2. D. James (23) helped steady the ship for a bit but fell at 41 for 3. Two more wickets would tumble leaving Jacques United in a world of bother at 41 for 5. L. Prospere had other plans with a fabulous knock of 57 off 37 balls. This gave Jacques hope as they manage to post up a total of 137 all out. Renegades' Q. Mesmain had a 5 wicket haul leading the bowlers with 5 for 25 assisted by 2 wickets for S. Pamphile and 1 a piece for S. St Rose and S. Descarte.
Dotcom Renegades would have hoped to be chasing a smaller total given the start they had with the ball but this was by no means out of their reach. Their opening batsmen despite a few close calls in field were able to stay at the crease and post up a good start to the run chase. M. Pamphile and K. Stephen's 36 and 35 runs respectively laid a great foundation for the renegades. They put up 61 before M. Pamphile was out caught. However, the runs kept coming with S. Descarte contributing another 21 off 21 balls to the total before being bowled. R. Lesmond came out and got out for 5 which began to create some doubt as to whether or not the Renegades could get over the line. They fell to 111 for 3 with plenty of power hitters still left to bat. However, the runs required were slowly creeping up and out pacing the balls left as the bowling had become very disciplined. With a stunning straight boundary catch by W. Dennis to remove opener K. Stephen fans erupted and knew they were in for a treat and down to the wire game.
Last year's danger man S. Pamphile came to the crease. Everyone knows of his hitting ability so the bowling had to be near perfection. Renegades soon lost C. Pamphile run out for 2 leaving them on 119 for 6. We reached a final over with L. Prospere bowling and Renegades needing 17 off 6. Prospere had other plans and bowled a tight off stump line with pace leaving little room for the batsmen to get anything. Renegades fall short getting 8 off the last over losing by 9 runs.
A tremendous defensive display by Jacques United gives them a win in match 1 in Group B
Despite the start of the game seeming in question due to heavy burst of showers late in the afternoon we were able to get the first group stage game off and running due to some improvisation by the ground staff. Champions Zenon won the toss and decided to bat. The first wicket fell for 7 runs but the innings steadied thereafter. The next 3 wickets fell in quick succession with Zenon going from 41 for 2 to 48 for 4. Faith United was able to limit Zenon to some degree of success with periodic wickets in between scoring bursts. A. Hippolyte top scored with 23 and knocks by S. Mesmain of 21 as well as V. Smith's 17 were the peak of the batsmen. D. Thomas and H. Smith each got 3 wickets with Zenon putting up a very chasable 125 all out.
Faith United came out to bat and appeared to adopt the "slow and steady" attitude towards the modest run chase. Even after losing 2 wickets on 18 runs they steadily got to the 50's with a top scoring knock of 24 by J. Eugene. However, this is where the innings stalled. Zenon's bowling clamped down and runs became hard to get. The batsmen seemed incapable of finding the gaps, furthermore Zenon's fielding was top notch given the conditions, with one breathtaking stop by D. Hippolyte bringing the crowd to its feet and further motivating the Zenon team. The wickets began to tumble and the runs were few and far between for Faith United. The never got above the run rate and the game ended with them on 81/9. D. Alfred grabbed 3 for 15 leading the bowling but it was an overall team bowling and fielding effort that put the vice on Faith United. With four other bowlers grabbing one wicket each.
Champions Zenon start off their title defence with a convincing win.
New D Knights posts up a respectable first score of 146 for 5 in 20 overs in the tournament. With D. Monrose top scoring with 38 off 59 balls. Useful additions of 18* and 19 runs by J. Mesmain and O. Changoo respectively. They were helped by many extras (55) as the Rising Stars bowlers took time to get into sort of groove and were punished when sloppy with ball in hand and in field. 4 bowlers shared a wicket each with D. Victorin being the most economical of the lot.
With a gettable total and runs to be had on this pitch Rising Stars fell to a bad start. Losing 5 wickets in quick succession within the space of 13 minutes. But then came S. Felix and E. Francois who buoyed the innings with knocks of 35 off 15 and 34 off 22 respectively. This brought the crowd to life in the middle of their innings. C. Calendar had different ideas and removed Felix from the crease. The rest of the batsmen followed with Rising Stars falling short at 107 all out after 14 overs. Calendar's 3 wickets for 13 runs at an economy of 3.25 and most importantly breaking a 71 run partnership proved to be the difference in this game.
New D Knights win by 39 runs and move into Group B.
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