With the backdrop of the Falmouth Port beyond the northern stand, the Trelawny multipurpose stadium was the battleground for the SDC Wray and Nephew national play-offs at the weekend.
In the first match of the double-header, Spicy Hill from Trelawny took on St Elizabeth’s Greenfield in what turned out to be a rollercoaster of emotions for both teams.
Having elected to bat, Greenfield made good use of the field restrictions as openers Peter Brown and Marvin Linton were aggressive early in posting 48 runs for the first wicket. It was Brown who provided the excitement hitting 5 fours in a 15 ball knock of 30. However, things took a dramatic turn as Greenfield lost 4 wickets in three overs. Linton was the first to go for 10 runs as Alex Roberts got the breakthrough. From thier, Niel Dacosta provided a bowling masterclass removing Marvin Marrett for 1 run. Two deliveries later, he had Gavin Edmond caught without scoring. Dacosta would return to grab another four wickets as Greenfield found themselves reeling at 72 runs for 7 wickets and in danger of being bowled out for less than 100 runs.
Captain Kieth Williams, with 23 runs from 17 balls and Nicholas Foster with 16 runs helped in scoring another 60 runs for the final three wickets as Greenfield were bowled out for 132 runs.
Dacosta ended with 6 wickets for 15 runs from his four overs, while Captain Carlington Johnson had 2 wickets for 5 runs.
Having been the star for his team with ball in hand Dacosta strode to the crease alongside Tiern Christian, hoping to do the same with the bat. however, his stay was short-lived as he was dismissed for just 4 runs. Omar Williams and Christian then joined forces and the pair added another 39 runs for the second wicket. Odain Thompson broke the partnership removing Williams for 18 runs and from their, a small slide ensued.
Spicy Hill lost three wickets for 20 runs and were in trouble at 80 runs for 5 wickets inside 14 fours, including that of Christian, who made 30 runs from 21 balls in an innings consisting of 2 fours and as many sixes.
Captain Carlington Johnson would play the anchoring innings for his team. He was watchful at the start of his innings dealing in singles. He continued to lift the tempo towards the end, getting to 34 runs from 32 balls. With victory in sight, Johnson was run out in the final over, turning for what would’ve been the winning run.
That meant schoolboys Rickelmi Ennis and Orlando Forbes were at the crease with one run to get. The young sportsmen didn’t take long to get it scampering for a bye-to-seal victory at 133 runs for 6 wickets.
Thompson, with 2 wickets for 32 runs and captain Kieth Williams 2 wickets for 17 runs, was the top wicket-takers for Greenfield in a losing effort.
The second game between Petersville from Westmoreland and Comfort from Manchester was equally as entertaining as the first. After being asked to bowl first, Comfort was all over the Petersville batting line-up as captain Hanif Martin gave them the perfect start, removing Garcia Gibson with the first ball of the innings. Martin also removed Howard Jamieson for 1 runs with his fourth delivery as Petersville were 8 runs for 2 wickets at the end of over number one. Martin Grabbed his third in the third over as former National player Zanief Fowler went for 4 runs.
At that stage, Petersville was 10 runs for 3 wickets, and it got worse as Lanceford Spence removed Marlon Wright for 2 with the score unmoved.
The slide continued as Petersville found themselves 42 runs for 6 wickets and it called for a heroic inning from someone, to which captain Michael Frew answered the call. Frew and youngster Kevonie Graham shared in a 89 run partnership for the seventh wicket rescuing the team from what could’ve been an embarrassment.
The partnership was characterized by aggressive stroke play and positive running, which saw Frew passing 50 runs. Graham was eventually dismissed for 31 runs in the final over, but Frew remained not out on 59 runs at the end as Petersville posted 136 runs for 7 wickets from their 20 overs.
Martin ended with 3 wickets for 22 runs while Spence had 2 wickets for 30 runs.
Comfort got off to a positive start in their run chase as Brian Barnes and Justin Martin added 48 runs for the first wicket. Barnes found the boundary just once in making 16 runs from 17 balls. New batsman Damion Bryce found it difficult at the start of the innings but still managed to add 35 runs with Martin. Martin was fluent in his innings of 38 runs, hitting 6 fours in his 28 ball stay at the crease.
Bryce finally opened his shoulders hitting two sixes, but Comfort would open the door for Petersville as they ran out of Bryce for 25 runs and Matthew Morgan for 1 run, saw them 89 runs for 4 wickets. Lorenzo McDonald fell shortly after for 6 runs and when Zidane Gordon also departed with the score of 104 runs, Comfort CC looked uncomfortable.
But some poor fielding and four dropped catches didn’t help the cause of Petersville as Rajay Morris 23 runs and Jahiem Bartley 7 runs took them to victory at 137 runs for 6 wickets.
Marlon Wright (1-18), Ejay Spence (1-21), Travis Taylor (1-35) and Ryan Moxam (1-36) were the wicket-takers for Petersville.
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