By: Curtis Morton
An exhilarating century by Ross Powell, the second in as many weeks and a steamy spell of bowling by Kezron Archibald, were two of the major players in ensuring that the Charlestown Secondary School, effectively stormed into the finals of the Federation High Schools cricket championship.
The semi final encounter versus the Charles E. Mills Secondary School (previously, the Sandy Point High School), was played at the ET Willet Park in Nevis, on Wednesday, April 22, 2015.
A fair sized crowd was on hand to watch the youngsters exhibit their skills and among them were some of the former Nevisian cricketing heroes, like Elquemedo Willet; Ronald Powell; Raphael Wallace and Carl Tuckett.
CSS won the toss and elected to bat first. Saeed Williams batted aggressively to chalk up a quick half century (51), before he was bowled behind his back while sweeping at an off spinner. A more watchful Ross Powell took his time in accumulating his first half of a ton. The pair was parted with the score on 97.
Ross Powell then accelerated towards his century and on completing his hundred, much to the joy of his team mates and spectators alike, he went totally berserk.
He charged the fast bowlers, hitting the ball to all parts of the park before he holed out on 144. He was ably assisted by Marcus Dubbery who was undefeated on 38 when the 35 overs were completed.
CSS had put an imposing 279 for 4 on the tins.
Shaquan Pemberton got 2 wickets for 39 runs and Phillip Richardson 1 for 39.
When the Charles E. Mills team batted, they were in for a baptism of fire, as Leewards Islands under 19 quickie, Kezron Archibald, steamed in with bouncers, yorkers and slower balls, to have the batsmen ducking and skipping out of the way.
The Kittitian team was bowled out for a paltry 68 runs, with Archibald bagging 4 wickets; Hakeem Harvey got 2 and there were some four run outs.
The CSS team won by a comprehensive margin of 211 runs and has now secured a berth in the final which is scheduled for Friday 24th April.
The other finalist is set to be determined later today, as the Gingerland Secondary School is due to take on the Washington Archibald High school in St.Kitts.