An enterprising 45 from West Indies Under-19 batsman Kevin Wickham proved decisive and set up Settlers for a five-run win against Guardians to take the inaugural BIM10 title on Thursday.
All but five of the runs scored by Wickham, a member of the Windies Under-19s that played in the ICC Youth World Cup earlier this year in the Caribbean, came in boundaries comprising struck seven fours and two sixes from 21 balls.
He earned the Player-of-the-Match award and anchored Settlers to a competitive 103 for seven in the final of the tournament organised under the auspices of the Barbados Cricket Association at the Three Ws Oval on the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies.
The Settlers, whose attack included former Windward Islands Volcanoes left-arm spinner Alston Bobb and Guyanese left-arm pacer Gavin Moriah, dismissed Guardians for 98 in 9.3 overs to narrowly win the first semi-professional Ten10 tournament played in the island.
Wickham dominated an opening stand of 52 with clubmate and discarded Barbados Pride and Volcanoes all-rounder Kevin Stoute before they were dismissed within five balls of each other in the fifth over bowled by St Lucian left-arm spinner Pius Emilien.
None of the other Settlers batsmen could match their intensity, and wickets tumbled regularly with Jamaican pacer Michail Powell one of three bowlers to take two wickets.
Guardians topped the table in the round-robin preliminary stage, but chose the wrong time to let themselves down and failed to build any significant partnerships to anchor the chase.
Uncapped pacer Raymond Bynoe was the most successful bowler with three for 20 in his two overs, and Moriah was one of two bowlers that took two wickets. (CMC)
