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by pltm
(PLTM) - The BVI Cricket Association (BVICA), Corporate Cricket League continued into week two, at the A.O Shirley Grounds, with the introduction of more new teams and players.
The first game saw a merged Conyers/Deloitte team competing against Team Harneys, where both teams were severely depleted due to a major event occurring at the same time for the legal and accountancy professions on island. However, they both tried their best to assemble their squads and ensure they started their 2016 campaigns competitively.
Conyers/Deloitte won the toss and decided to bat – with Chris Turner and Murray Laing opening the batting. Rita Hawkins opened the attack for Harneys and Murray Laing immediately signalled his intentions with a well-placed boundary.
Simon Cross took the next over from the Police Station end and bowled conservatively only giving away five runs. The next two overs however, would prove decisive in the context of the game as Rita Hawkins and Simon Cross combined to remove 4 wickets with only 5 more runs added to the Conyers/Deloitte score leaving Conyers/Deloitte on 17 for 4.
It was left to Natasha Ruscheinski and Shaunda Isaac to salvage the situation and both players batted watchfully – allowing the Harneys bowlers to drift off target and collecting runs off wide balls whilst running singles where available. Their effort resulted in Conyers/Deloitte ending on 33 for 5.
With low target to aim for captain of the Harneys team, Alvin Africa decided to send in husband and wife combination Stephen and Macia Payne to open the batting. It proved a very effective decision as Stephen Payne announced his cricketing credentials with a sequence of boundaries and sixes.
Mr Payne set blistering pace to his innings and finished not out on a score of 25 by way of 3 fours and 2 sixes. Mrs Payne also remained not out on a score of 1. Harneys achieved the target in 2.4 overs completing a convincing win and the margin of their victory took them straight to the top of Pool B. They are tied on points with BCQS/Antarctica but with a far superior Net Run Rate of 11.70 as opposed to 1.42.
Meanwhile, with Maples/KPMG playing their first game it is yet to be determined who will be the contenders in this pool whilst Teams RVIPF and Team Conyers/Deloitte have time to reconfigure their game plans.
The second fixture of Gameweek 2 was the highly anticipated clash of last year’s champions Delta Petroleum with new comers Team Moorings. Whilst they are new to this competition the strength of the Moorings squad is no doubt, boasting 4 league players including wicket keeper batsman Cameron Williams who won the main BVICA Premier League title this season with his team Vincy.
Delta won the toss, the backing themselves to make a big total decided to bat first, relying on their tried and tested openers from last year Mikhail Mohamed and Dhanpaul Chrisnanand, both experienced league players.
Both openers made a steady start trying not to force the boundaries and running well between the wickets. They saw out the opening attack from Trent Belfon and Andrew Richards and then looked to captialise upon the introduction of Hannah Bethune scoring 17 in that over which was aided by a sequence of overthrows from the Moorings fielders.
The Delta openers put on a partnership of 42 runs from 26 balls before it was broken in the 5th over when Andrew Richards caught Mikhail Mohamed off Cameron William’s bowling.
Delta Captain Jagnarine “Sugar” Persaud then brought himself on in the important number 3 slot and it was disaster straight away as he was promptly run out in the same over. These seemed to take the wind out of the Delta sails as the next Kenron Baptiste over only resulted in two runs.
However, they soon picked up the pace again – with opener Dhanpaul and newcomer Carlon Lueis combining for another 48 runs. Delta Petroleum ended their innings with the highest score in the Tournament so far setting a target of 95.
Moorings began their reply in quick fashion with J Ragnauth and Kevin Pericval opening the attack and immediately setting Delta Captain Sugar Persaud to the sword.
Sugar fought back however, and clean bowled Percival off his last delivery. Andrew Richards was the next batsman in for Moorings and negotiated Ken Alphonso well.
The third over from Dhanpaul Chrisnanand proved decisive in the context of the game. Dhanpaul clean bowled both Andrew Richards and opener Ragnauth whilst only giving away 3 runs. This double blow put Team Moorings on the backfoot.
Team Moorings Captain Trent Belfon at number 5, gave the Moorings team something to hope for with some powerful blows but his eagerness got the better of him as he played all around a delivery from Bashir Hidar and was clean bowled.
Cameron Williams came in with the score at 39 for 4 and a lot to do. The score board pressure was telling as he scrambled for a single that was not there and Bashir Hidar made no mistake with the throw running him out.
It was then left to Kenron Baptiste and Hannah Bethune to salvage some pride for Team Moorings and although they battled valiantly it was too large a mountain to climb and the Team Moorings reply ended at 57 all out.
Team Delta’s Margin of Victory takes them to the top of Pool A. They are tied on points with Omega Caribbean but have a superior net run rate with 3.80 as opposed to 2.10.
Team Groundworks will play their first game in this pool next week vs RTW.
RTW has a chance to regroup after a heavy loss to Omega Caribbean; and Groundworks have an opportunity to announce their intentions as on paper they appear to have a strong team.
