Counterpoint Wanderers maintained their unbeaten streak in the Sagicor Twenty20 competition but were forced to fight all the way for a hard-fought victory by six wickets by a plucky Premix & Precast Yorkshire team in the second quarter-final at Kensington Oval on Thursday night.
Yorkshire, invited to bat, were made to struggle throughout the 20 overs and scraped a moderate 112 for eight. But they still caused their opponents some anxious moments before Wanderers, despite losing only four wickets, scrambled to the target with just two balls left in the final over.
Shayne Moseley and Jonathan Drakes, both new acquisitions by Wanderers this season, placed the Dayrells Road club firmly on the way to a semi-final place with a solid but deliberate opening stand worth 60 runs off 12 overs.
However, once the partnership was broken when the in-form Moseley (33) holed out to deep square leg off leg-spinner Ryan Layne, Yorkshire, whose only loss in the preliminary round was to defending champions Sagicor UWI, were assisted by the timid approach of the batsmen to come within two balls of snatching victory.
Off-spinner Timothy Legall (2 for 22) delivered a double-blow in his final over, the 15th of the innings, with the scalps of veteran Sean Armstrong and Raymon Reifer off successive balls to breathe fresh life into the contest.
Drakes, attempting a suicidal second run, was run out for 38 (45 balls, 3 fours) with one ball left in the 18th over with only nine runs required for what then appeared to be a straightforward triumph.
Four were needed off the final over and when stand-in captain Diego Stuart (19 not out) failed to make contact with the first two deliveries from pacer Jamal Noel, the possibility of a Yorkshire win began to take on realistic proportions.
It took a scythed drive behind point by Stuart to earn the three runs that tied the scores before Jason Greene tucked the next delivery to square leg for the single that brought welcome relief to Wanderers’ players and supporters.
Yorkshire had endured a dreadful start, losing the wicket of Winston Worrell to the third delivery of the match and were never allowed to recover by adept bowling and fielding.
Layne and coach/player Antonio Mayers (17) featured in the best partnership of the innings, adding 34 for the seventh wicket in helping to lift the score past the 100-run mark.
Left-arm spinner Chad Clarke-Reifer (3 for 20), who removed top scorer Layne (38) and debutant Grenadian Patrick McSween (12) with the first and third balls of the final over thwarted any efforts at a late acceleration of scoring.  Â
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