Robertson S. Henry. Sports and Cultural Contributor
TUESDAY APRIL 09, 2013; ANOS VALE, SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines pushed Dominica, but the last pair of Lee Louisy 05 not out and Deon Destouche 04 not out saw them home after losing the ninth wicket with eleven runs needed but plenty of overs remaining.
Played at the Anos Vale 2 playing field, chasing 150 for their fifth straight win in the 2013 Windward Islands Under-15 Cricket Tournament being played in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Dominicans found themselves 65 for 5; still 85 runs adrift.
Leic Charles failed for the first time with the bat scoring just 06, as the top half of the Dominican batting found themselves back in the dressing room with the yet to be tested bottom half facing the task of having to score the remaining runs to get the team the needed victory.
From 65 for five, Athanaze and Joseph took them to 103 before the sixth wicket fell when Athanaze was c by Roberts off Haywood for 26. Two runs were added and then Daneal Dupigny was trapped leg-before by Douglas without scoring.
Then Kerwin Dupigny and Ndo Joseph took the total to 133 before Haywood struck again; trapping Dupigny leg-before for 11.
Johnnel Eugene exhibited maturity in his unbeaten knock (Photo courtesy Robertson Henry
Lee Louisy and Joseph took the score to 140 but then disaster to the Dominicans and a blessing to the Vincentians struck. Wyllie induced Joseph to drive and the batsman obliged, hitting the ball with ferocious power but the bowler moved smartly to his right and held on to a stinging return catch to send supporters into celebrations and tremors through the Dominican dressing room.
It was then the drama ensued as the Vincentians threw the bathtub along with the baby and the kitchen sink with all the dishes therein at the Dominicans.
The last pair blocked, drove, missed, nudged, and finally got to the desired 151 for nine in 33.5 overs; Dominica winning by one wicket.
The Vincentians bowled 34 extras made of two byes, and 32 wides with Jeremy Haywood and Kerwin Williams each taking two for 25, Gregory Wyllie two for 31, Jeremy Layne one for 15, Delron Douglas one for 22, and Roberts one for 27.
Grenada versus Saint Lucia
In what was a battle for the silver place finish at the Anos Vale Cricket Ground, Grenada winning the toss for the first time, stayed true to the norm in this year’s tournament by sending the opposition in to bat.
The Saint Lucians never got started and spluttered, fired, spluttered and then the spark died in a paltry score of 163 for 9 in their 50 overs.
Dane Edwards was trapped leg-before by Ricardo Hall for 01 – 06 for one, Jervel Tobierre and Nick Elibox mounted a recovery but Nedd ended that when he found the edge of Tobierre’s bat to give wicketkeeper a simple catch – 26 for 2.
Nick Elibox departed the same route – caught by Stewart off Nedd for 16 – 30 for three. Nyim Calender was caught by Blache off Narum Singh for 10 – 53 for four, and the Youlan Lamontagne was then bowled by Jeremiah for 01 – 68 for five.
Wicketkeeper Denzel James then joined Johnnel Eugene who was battling the flu, and proceeded to lay into the Grenadian bowling striking three fours and two massive sixes before Hall disturbed his wicket, bowling him for 32 – 115 for six.
Stuart Calderon was all at sea and Hall soon put him out of his misery for naught – 117 for seven.
Keeghan Patrick was run out for 02 – 141 for eight, Jeannick Fontenelle caught by Lett off Jeremiah for 07 – 160 for nine.
Emmanuel Stewart led from the front once again (Photo Courtesy Robertson Henry)
During all of that mayhem, Johnnel Eugene exhibiting much more patience than his father – former Saint Lucia and Windward Islands middle order batsman the classy John Eugene, played a very mature inning to remain 60 not out at the end.
The Grenadians bowled 31 extras made of 29 wides, and two leg-byes with Ricardo Hall finishing with three for 34, Johann Jeremiah two for 27, Darren Nedd two for 31, and Narum Singh one for 22.
In reply, the Grenadians were pegged back very early when Jeremiah was trapped leg-before by Elibox for 02 – 07 for one.
Dejon Jeruakhan and Emmanuel Stewart mounted a recovery before Jeruakhan was drawn out of his crease by Calderon to be stumped by James for 14 – 47 for two.
Donald McDonald was run out by Modest for 16 – 95 for three, and Emmanuel was on the receiving end of another stumping after receiving a life by a very generous umpire. He departed for 66 – 135 for four.
It was soon 142 for five when Ishmael Lett was trapped leg-before by Elibox without scoring, then 148 for six when Hall was run out for 08, and 156 for 7 – Nedd was caught by Elibox off Tobierre for 33.
With available overs steadily diminishing, both sides began to feel the pressure. Elibox bowled his heart out but knowing that much depended on him, he went for the short ball with 1.1 overs remaining and was pulled to the square-leg boundary ending the proceedings.
Grenada reaching 165 for seven, which included 24 extras, made of 1 leg-bye, 3 no-balls and 20 wides. Stuart Calderon finished with two for 15, Nick Elibox two for 30, and Jervel Tobierre 1 for 15.
Going into the final day of action, Dominica has ten points from five matches, Grenada six from five, Saint Lucia four from five, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines yet to register a single point from their five matches played.
