JCB Boscobelle won a thrilling encounter against Crane Resort St Catherine by two wickets to capture the Barbados Cricket Association’s (BCA) Intermediate Twenty20 Shield at Kensington Oval last Saturday afternoon.
The match was full of twists, turns and drama with both teams holding and losing the advantage throughout the game.
Set 101 to win the match after St Catherine were bundle out for a paltry total of 100 in 19.5 overs, Boscobelle were in deep trouble after losing five wickets for just ten runs by the fifth over. Fast bowler Dario Cumberbatch jolted them with an outstanding opening spell of pace bowling from the Joel Garner End.
Cumberbatch took four wickets for three runs from four overs, a key weapon in his armoury was a deadly in-swinger that left the batsmen groping in the dark. Cumberbatch’s demolition of Boscobelle’s top-order began with the third ball of the first over in the match when he beat and comprehensively bowled Keron Boyce for two, a couple of balls earlier the pacer had ran out opener Sherwin Joseph for a duck with the score on one.
Boyce’ wicket fell without a run being added to the score. Cumberbatch trapped Tony Edwards lbw in his second over to leave Boscobelle in dire straits with three batsmen back in the pavilion and just nine runs on the scoreboard.
Without any addition to the score, Cumberbatch uprooted Dario Lopez’s stumps before he had scored. Opener Renaldo Griffith who watched batsmen fall around him like ripe mangoes in season, faced 11 balls while scoring two runs. His painful innings came to an end with an in-swinger from Cumberbatch which he attempted to play through the leg-side and was struck in front of the stumps.
Some of the St Catherine fans began their victory celebration at the fall of Griffith’s wicket, at that stage the score was ten runs for the loss of five wickets in the fifth over, and Boscobelle had lost half of their wickets. These fans were sure that their team were on the road to victory, they were soon reminded cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties.
Jamal Boyce (16) and Andre Lopez (24) with assistance from the St Catherine fielders restored the inning with a sixth-wicket partnership of 56. Lopez received two chances during his vital innings; he was dropped at slip off left arm spinner Damien Browne and wicketkeeper Aaron Griffith spilled a catch off another slow left arm bowler Akeem Greaves. Boyce was misstumped and dropped at mid-wicket by Orion Seale off Greaves.
The pair took the score to 66 and seemed to be steering Boscobelle close to victory when Boyce attempted to lift Seale bowling medium pace over the long-off boundary and was splendidly caught one-handed by Cumberbatch. Three runs later, Lopez departed caught at the wicket off Seale off the first ball of the sixteenth over.
At that stage the score was 69 for seven, and the match was evenly poised, Boscobelle needed 32 run to capture the title and St Catherine had to take three wickets to lift the trophy. Kemar Johnson who was unbeaten on nine and Keemo Johnson (11) added 18 crucial runs for the eighth wicket.
They took the score to 87, Johnson increased Boscobelle chances of winning the match with a massive six off Seale from the first ball of the eighteenth over which conceded 12 runs, but was caught by Chad Puckerin off fast bowler Dashawn Edwards in the nineteenth over.
Captain Damien Edwards strolled to the crease and casually flicked the first ball he received form Edwards over square-leg for six, this boundary firmly placed the advantage in the St Peter-based team hands. They needed four runs off the final over to win the match.
The game took another dramatic turn in the last over of the match which was bowled by Seale, the score was 99 for eight with Boscobelle requiring two runs for victory when the heavens opened. After a delay of 22 minutes, the match resumed.
Seale who took two wickets for 18 runs, missed an opportunity to run -out Edwards at the striker end and the batsmen ran a cheeky single, the next ball Jordan stroked it for a single and Boscobelle along with their supporters began to celebrate a remarkable and exciting victory.
Earlier St Catherine scored 100 runs, Puckerin top scored with 22 and Dashawn Thompson-Norville contributed 20. Man of the Match off-spinner Tony Edwards took two wickets for ten runs.
Skipper Edwards said his team’s victory was special and emotional because over the years Boscobelle have been finalist, semifinalist and quarterfinalist in the tournament but never won the title before.
“It is really special, a lot of emotions have gone into this victory. For the past couple of years we have been finalist, semifinalist and quarterfinalist, but we never won the title before, we were always coming up short. I am happy the team have won this title after so many years of trying, it is a fantastic achievement for us and our fans,” Edwards told Barbados TODAY.
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Congratulations to the Boscobelle Team.. This was a great article on the match, made me feel like i was there, brought apprehension and a smile. Enjoy your victory.. ⚾