JOLLY GOOD. Kurt Wilkinson gathering runs during his 31 not out in his Man Of The Match performance.

by PHILIP SPOONER at Black Rock

KURT WILKINSON is quiet on and off the field. Soft-spoken, he has also been doing little with the bat and ball all season.

Yesterday he broke loose and let the bat and the ball do the talking. Rekindling the Midas touch of several seasons ago when he earned a spot in the West Indies team, he took Carib Carlton to a nine-wicket win over Banks in the semi-final of the Sagicor Super Cup.

He made it look easy.

Bowling his clever medium-pace he nipped out four for 15 from ten overs, as Banks capitulated for a meagre 95 off 39 overs after winning the toss and decided to bat. He accounted for a fifth-wicket with a sharp run out.

Then in the second half, Wilkinson showed his prowess with the bat stroking a mouth-watering 31 not out off 46 balls as Carlton strolled to 100 for one off 16.5 overs.

Hard work

"The end result here today was a result of hard work we put in during the week. We feel quiet satisfied with our performance," he told SUNDAY SUN after the match ended at 1:56 p.m. in glorious sunshine.

"We did not do as well as we liked in the three-day competition, so we decided to give it a real shot in the One-Day competition and it worked well today.

"I decided to up my game with the ball and put in a big performance. I have been doing a lot work with the bat and trying to get back where I was before," he added before accepting the Man Of The Match award.

Eyeing WIteam

" It has always been my goal to get into the West Indies team and I'm trying to get back there. I had a few personal things to clear up and I'm back in a position to move on."

Wilkinson slow medium pace did the trick in the morning. Don Lovell and Carlos Brathwaite added 39 for the first wicket, but Wilkinson nipped out Lovell and also sent back Keegan Alleyne, Johnathan Carter and Sherwin Campbell to sharp catches.

Brathwaite cracked three fours and three sixes in his 42 but was run-out by Wilkinson after a mix-up in calling with veteran Campbell.

With the top half back in the hut and only 73 on the board, the Banks lower order unwisely chose the aerial route rather than bat out the overs.

Off-spinner Alex Bridgeman stepped in and took three for eight, while Corey Collymore was the sixth bowler introduced and had two for four.

Captain Winston Reid stated the obvious after the debacle when he admitted "we didn't bat as well as we should have".

"Only Brathwaite got a start and we didn't apply ourselves. Carlton played like champions. They are a consistent side . . . we were beaten by a better team today."

Placid pitch

After Banks made a mess of the placid pitch, Wilkinson and Dale Richards – 54 not out off 48 balls – showed how it should be done.

After Richie Greaves ran himself out at 15, they added an unbroken 85 for the second wicket.

Wilkinson, watched by former South African allrounder Dale Beckenstein, played the shot of the day – a stupendous square drive off Brathwaite which sped to the fence for his second boundary.

Richards set the tone when he cracked the first ball of the innings to the point fence and also crashed another seven fours to excite the fans.

The champagne moment came when he hoisted Nicholas King onto the roof of the pavilion to bring a fitting climax to the match and spark celebrations.

Scoreboard:

Toss: Banks; Pitch: good; Outfield: fast; Weather: sunny

BANKS

D Lovell c Noel b Wilkinson 5

C Brathwaite run out 42

K Alleyne c Richards b Wilkinson 1

J Carter c wk Morris b Wilkinson 2

S Campbell c wk Morris b Wilkinson 14

B Callender c wk Morris b Collymore 18

T Harbin c and b Bridgeman 0

A Sealy lbw b Bridgeman 4

N King c Graham b Bridgeman 4

W Reid c Richards b Collymore 0

H Austin not out 0

Extras (lb1, w3, nb1) 5

Total (all out – 39 overs) 95

Wkts fell at: 39, 42, 53, 59, 73, 73, 89, 93, 95, 95

Bowling: Graham 10-3-15-0, Noel 4-0-29-0, Wilkinson 10-4-15-4, Charles 8-1-23-0, Bridgeman 5.1-1-8-3, Collymore 2-0-4-2

CARLTON

D Richards not out 54

R Greaves run out 10

K Wilkinson not out 31

Extras (lb2, w2, nb1) 5

Total (1 wkt – 16.5 overs) 100

Did not bat: K Gibson, V Nurse, C Morris, M Graham, N Charles, A Bridgeman, J Noel, C Collymore

Wkt fell at: 15

Bowling: Reid 6-1-27-0, Sealy 5-0-29-0, Brathwaite 3-1-21-0, Austin 1-0-9-0, King 1.5-0-13-0

Result: Carlton won by nine wickets

Man-Of-The-Match: Kurt Wilkinson

Adjudicator: Louis Linton

Umpires: Vincent Bullen, Tunley Franklyn

Match referee: Carson Howard