Top Eight Teams Decided for SDC Wray & Nephew National Community T/20 Cricket Quarterfinals

The eight quarterfinalists for the 2022 SDC/Wray and Nephew National Community T/20 cricket competition have been decided and all roads lead to Chedwin Park on July 16 and 17.

On Saturday, July 16, Boscobel out of St Mary will oppose Racecourse of Clarendon at 10am before number two ranked Comfort C.C of Manchester takes on Days Mountain of St Mary.

A day later, favourites Greater Portmore (St Catherine) plays White Horses (St Thomas) in the opening game at 10:00 am, while Links United (St Ann) meets South Star United (Manchester) at 2:00 pm.

At the end of the National Round Robin phase, Greater Portmore confirmed their tag as title favourites as they topped group ‘A’ with maximum 9 points. The number one team from St Catherine got things rolling as they defeated Days Mountain in their opening game. They made it two from two when Jamie Haye’s 103 not out led them to an 83 run win over Eastwood Park, which qualified them for the National Quarterfinals phase. They closed out group participation as national youth player Nicholas Lewin guided them across the line with 68 as they beat Yallahs in their third game. Days Mountain who lost their opening game against Eastwood Park, rebounded with back-to-back wins over Yallahs by 10 wickets and Eastwood Park to join Greater Portmore in the Knockout round.

St Mary is in with two shots at the National title as Boscobel joined Days Mountain into the final eight. Boscobel was put on the back foot early as their opening Group ‘B’ game against Links United was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to bad weather conditions. They, however, quickly put that setback behind them in a 10 wicket win over St John’s East, thanks to Alwyn Williams 66 runs and Orlando Lyons 64 runs. They then easily defeat Buff Bay in their final group game, ending on 7 points.

Boscobel had to settle for third in the group. However, last year’s National Semi-finalists Links United took top honors as they too were unbeaten. After getting one point for their rained-out game against Boscobel, Fast bowler Ojay Shields destroyed Buff Bay’s batting line-up dismissing them for just 68 runs as he ended with 3 wickets for 4 runs. They then raced to victory without losing a wicket. Their final game of the group came against the winless St John’s east and after being set 161 runs for victory, captain Othneil Pennant with 91 runs and Alwayne Simms 53 runs not out saw them through to the line and the quarterfinal as group winners.

In Group ‘C’, the ever-present Comfort C.C showed why they are ranked number two heading into the quarterfinals. Comfort C.C laid down the marker as early as game one when they brushed aside White Horses by 6 wickets. They made it two wins from two by beating Clarks Town by a whopping 99 runs as they made 186 runs batting first on the back of Zidane Brown’s 74 runs. Jerome Lewis and Damion Bryce, took three wickets each, helping to guarantee the Manchester team a spot in the quarterfinals. They wrapped up group game number three by beating Whitehouse by 32 runs.

Joining Comfort C.C from Group ‘C’ is White Horses, who gained qualification on the final day. After losing to Comfort in game one and getting only a point in a rain-affected match two, White Horses needed a win in their final group game against Clarks Town. The St Thomas Based teams didn’t leave it up to chance as they piled up 242 runs for 5 wickets batting first. Javir Campbell made 82 runs while Fitzgerald Anderson contributed 60 runs. They then had Clark’s Town 34 runs for 1 wicket after 4.1 overs before the game was called off.

Of the four groups, ‘D’ brought the most excitement as three teams ended on 6 points. In The end, Junction and South Stars United emerged as the top two. The excitement started from match day one as Junction defeated Spicy Hill by 8 runs on Duckworth/Lewis. South Star seized the advantage as they got by Racecourse by 26 runs. The two would meet in round two and Damion Ebanks’ 83 runs led Junction to their second win, coming away with a victory by 7 wickets. On that day, Albert Gopie, with 150 runs, carried Racecourse to a massive 294 runs for 3 wickets before Sherwayne Dixon, with 3 wickets for 6 runs, bowled Spicy Hill out for 125 runs. That meant South Star and Racecourse were on 3 points while Junction was on 6 going into the final set of games. With Spicy Hill out of contention, South Star had the easier run in the opening match at Sir ‘P’ Oval as they came away with the victory. It was now left up to Junction to make it three wins from three, but it wasn’t to be as Racecourse got the win to also end on 6 points.

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