CUL DE SAC--The four best teams in the Pepsi Gatorade T20 Cup are set and ready for the semi-finals on Sunday. After seven matches, General Auto Repairs Spartans placed first (7-0), Future Champs came in second (5-2), NAGICO United Cricket Club secured third place (5-2), and Sun Insurance Jaguars (3-4) came in fourth place. There were eight (8) teams in the tournament. For the semi-finals, Spartans will do battle against the Jaguars from 10:00am, and the NAGICO will take on Future Champs from 2:00pm. In the preliminary round, Spartans tamed the Jaguars while Future Champs humbled NAGICO on a sticky wicket. Spartans and Future Champs are confident of a repeat, while Jaguars and NAGICO are looking for a change in fortune. Spartans will be especially difficult to beat because of the skilful and potent composition of the team. Sherwin Peters is the second leading run-scorer of the tournament with 273 runs. The other players with solid scores for Spartans are Daniel Doram with 226 runs, Dameon Williams with 156 runs and Captain Kenroy David with 131 runs. Daniel Doram has 11 wickets, and Israel Morton is in second place on six wickets in the bowling department.
For Jaguars, Michael Palmer is the leading run-scorer for the team with 192 runs from six innings. His batting effort has been supported by opening partner Gregorio Ritchie and John Luc Lambourdiere. This batting trio will need exponential help from the other batsmen against the Spartans to score enough runs to challenge the imposing batting line-up of the opponent. Danga Farrell with 11 wickets and Harold Jn Baptiste nine wickets are the two leading wicket-takers on the team.
When Future Champs beat NAGICO in the tournament’s opening match, the NAGICO batsmen had difficulty negotiating the four-prong pace attack on a soft pitch. NAGICO was bowled out for only 60 runs, with fast bowler Chamiqueko Landefort registering outstanding bowling figures of five for 11 in four overs in that match. The other fast bowlers who took wickets were Nathan Edward with two for five off four overs (one maiden) and Captain Kyshawn Charles with one for 12 off three overs. Only Garfield Solomon, with 15 off 34 (1x4), crossed into double figures. Future Champs won the match by nine wickets. Edward is the leading run-scorer in the team with 167 runs, followed closely by Palmer with 163 runs. Watch out for Randall Longville, who is in a purple patch. He has been a revelation for NAGICO in the opening slot scoring 171 runs in six innings which may very well prompt Future Champs to use him as an opener. He and Palmer could be an explosive pair in the powerplay overs. Future Champs has the strongest bowling unit in the tournament with their four-prong attack and reliable spinners in Amarius Harris (10 wickets) and Rudesh Ramraj with seven wickets. NAGICO’s batting department depended heavily on Longville and Edward for a defendable score but will miss their services for this match. The other batsmen who have had a lean series will have to step up to the plate. Romain Doodnauth with 63 runs in four innings, Iassie Gabriel with 48 runs in seven innings, Stephen Evans with 37 runs in seven innings and Moreland Le Blanc with 42 runs from five innings will all have to discover their mojo quickly to prove that they could win matches without the young brigades in Longville, Edward and Tyanick Honore. Mrinal Wadhwa of NAGICO has the most runs in the tournament with 284 runs from seven innings. He also has the most wickets for NAGICO with 17 wickets from seven matches.
The leading run-scorers and wicket-takers for the other teams are as follows: Anil Persaud is the leading run-scoring and wicket-taker for Motorworld with 105 runs and 13 wickets, for WINAIR Conquerors, Lerry Baptiste with 199 runs and Amarius Harris with nine wickets, for We Lounge Kaieteur, Harsh Singh with 131 runs and Suraj Belavadi with 11 wickets and for Masters, Lerry Baptiste with 187 runs and Don Farrell with nine wickets.
The cricket fans have been experiencing some tense and exciting cricket matches which have led to massive turn out on the field. The anticipated semi-finals matches are expected to display the best cricketers playing the best cricket.
