By:Curtis Morton
Cricket fans in St.Maarten were given a rare weekend treat at the Carib Lumbar Ball Park, when the Luther SHOT GUN Kelly over 35 Cricket tournament was hosted by the WILFUL SKILLFUL Association, ably coordinated by the hard working Dango Farrell.
The teams represented in the tournament were: Host St.Maarten; Anguilla; St.Kitts and Nevis.
The matches were played on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th November.
The grand finals was played on Sunday afternoon between arch rivals St.Kitts and Nevis in the proverbial ‘battle of the narrows.’
St.Kitts batted first and it all started with an exciting duel between Codville Rogers and Elroy JIMBO David in the first over. David promptly struck Rogers in the mid rib area and a disappointed Rogers threw his bat away and then promptly dispatched the second delivery backward of square for an exquisite four.
Thereafter the battle lines were well and truly drawn.
Wendell Wallace and Frank Monzac then led the way in putting the Kittitians into early trouble.
However, Harwood Williams played responsibly and was well supported by Jason Saddler and later Sheldon Doyling in rallying the St.Kitts cause to a more presentable 106 all out in 19.3 overs.
Nevis in response was off to a domineering start, complements of Captain Merlin Liburd and Junior Mills but after they both departed, Nevis momentarily looked as if they were getting ready to repeat the St. Croix debacle of earlier in the year, when they lost to St. Croix in chasing a small total, as several of the batsmen, gifted their hands with loose shots.
However, the experienced Stuart William’s and Wendell MICEY Wallace, steadied the ship.
Williams completed the victory with one of the specialties from his archive: A masterful cover drive that left the fielders standing still.
Summarized scores: St.Kitts-106 all out in 19.3 overs: Harwood Williams 44; Jason Saddler 18; Sheldon Doyling 14; Codville Rogers 13
Wendell Wallace 3 for 13; Frank Monzac 3 for 17; Merlin Liburd 3 for 23
Nevis -108 for 5 from 15.2 overs: Merlin Liburd 22; Wendell Wallace 19*; Junior Mills 16; Stuart Williams 12*; Ardie Liburd 12; Curtis Morton 9
Alphonso Hendrickson 2 for 20; Harwood Williams 1 for 6; Ramond Chumney 1 for 26
Nevis won by 5 wickets and secured the championship trophy
Immediately after the tournament, the presentation ceremony was held and the following awards were presented:
Man of the finals: Wendell Wallace
Man of the series: Wendell Wallace
Best batsman: Harwood Williams
Best Bowler: Frank Monzac
Best fielder: Andrew Bowes
Most disciplined team: St.Kitts
Placement of teams:
1. Nevis
2. St.Kitts
3. St.Maarten
4. Anguilla
The 2017 tournament will see team one play against team four and team two will engage team three, in the preliminary rounds.
Results of other matches played:
St.Kitts v Anguilla
St.Kitts 148 for 8 from 20 overs: Jason Saddler 30; Harwood Williams 26; Codville Rogers 24Greg Stanley 16; Eustace Wallace 14
Andrew Herbert 4 for 28, including a hat trick; Kalie Rogers 2 for 33; Lawrence Carty 2 for 16; Keith Carty 1 for 17; Orris Smith 1 for 19; John Jeffers 1 for 27
Anguilla 127 for 8 in 20 overs: Kalie Rogers 52; Keith Carty 36
Jason Saddler 2 for 15; Kevin Hanley 2 for 26; Alphonso Hendrickson 1 for 19
St.Kitts won by 22 runs
Nevis v St.Maarten
St. Maarten: 99 all out:–: Larry 20; Bert 19; Lambert 17*
Frank Monzac 3 for 14; Wendell Wallace 2 for 5; Elroy David; Rakeesh and derrick parry 1 wicket each
Nevis 103 for 4: Stuart Williams 36*; Joel Simmonds 27; Rakeesh 20*
Bert 2 for 26; Marley and Lambert 1 wicket each
Nevis won by 6 wickets
St. Maarten v Anguilla
St.Maarten 169 for 6: Bryan Ryan 45; Burney Amos 22; Larry Baptiste 20; Dwayne Elgain 18
Anguilla 149 for 9 from 20 overs: Lincoln Carty 46; Keith Carty 38 ret; Kalie Rogers 24
St Maarten won by 20 runs