THE frequent showers may have dampened the ground and marred the match but didn’t rain completely on Crane Resort St Catherine parade and their march into the Sagicor General Twenty20 cricket semi-finals.
In a rain-spoilt third quarter-final, St Catherine eventually prevailed by ten wickets over Bayview Hospital YMPC via the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern method at 3Ws Oval Monday night.
Following a series of stops and starts, last year’s losing finalists, St Catherine, were set 37 runs to win off seven overs after restricting YMPC to 33 for four in seven overs in between showers.
The St Philip side easily achieved the target with two overs to spare, reaching 41 without loss in five overs when the match ended at 11 p.m.
Ironically, Shamar Cooke, a former YMPC player, finished the match with a six over wide long-off to end on 21 not out off 17 balls. He also hit two fours, one of which sailed through Liu Ross’ hands on the midwicket boundary. Cooke’s opening partner Neil Browne made an unbeaten 18 off 13 balls with three fours.
Earlier, play had started an hour and 45 minutes late because of persistent rain, and the match was reduced to 15 overs per innings.
Sent in, YMPC faced just five balls and reached five without loss when rain stopped play, causing the match to be reduced to 13 overs.
Caught for three
When it resumed, veteran left-arm spinner Derick Bishop had Kemar Jabarry Smith, the younger brother of YMPC’s captain Dwayne Smith, caught inside the mid-wicket boundary by Darnell Greenidge for three.
YMPC’s hopes were dashed when left-arm pacer Gavin Moriah removed Dwayne for just four in the next over as the experienced T20 specialist was caught at cover-point by Greenidge. Young left-hander Shaquan Carrington, who in the circumstances, surprisingly batted at No.3, struggled for five off 12 balls.
Both Moriah and Bishop bowled economically, conceding just 14 and eight runs, respectively, in their three overs.
With the rain coming again, and holding up play for nearly an hour despite a couple of attempts to restart with every abatement, the umpires ruled YMPC had only one more over to bat, when play eventually restarted.
That over from left-arm spinner Damien Browne yielded ten runs as Ryan Wiggins finished on 19 not out off 17 balls.
With no rain falling when St Catherine’s batted, the revised target proved to be a cakewalk for Cooke and Browne. (EZS)
