Wanderers, Wildey to contest Under-16 final

Wanderers Juniors ensured that there will be new champions of the Community Cricket League Under-16 40-over competition when they upstaged defending champions Franklyn Stephenson Academy Aces in one semifinal yesterday at Haynesville, St James.

The Dayrells Road-based club will face Wildey Juniors, who defeated Pickwick Juniors in the other semifinal played at the Courtney Browne/Luther King facility at Hoytes Village, also in St James.

Wanderers owe their 20-run victory mainly to a half-century by opening batsman Joshua Branch and a five-wicket haul from pacer Jayden Chase.

Branch provided the base for a total of 191 for seven off 37 overs, stroking 64 off 72 balls with five fours and three sixes before falling in the 24th over with the score 99 for three. Chase, in combination with fellow pacers with the new ball, toppled the Aces’ top order before returning in the death overs to blow away the tail for figures of five for 26 from 5.2 overs.

Branch dominated the scoring while he was at the crease, sharing stands of 41 and 37 for the first and second wickets with Xaundre Baptiste and Raashon Hackett respectively. Later in the innings, 12-year-old Rajeez Parsooram chipped in with 30 with four boundaries and Jelani Joseph (29 not out) bolstered the lower order.

Captain Gadson Bowens took two wickets for 29 but was dismissed in the first over to a catch in the gully off Roach to start the Academy’s troubles.

From a position of 34 for three, hard-hitting lefthander Zachary McCaskie, in association with Raedon Bellamy led a recovery in adding 53, but when the former fell to a catch at the wicket off Baptiste, the middle order became bogged down. Carter hit four sixes and two fours in 37 at better than a run a ball while Jahidi Hinds (24) and Nathan Osbourne (35) laboured for 20 overs in adding 63 for the sixth wicket until Chase came back to blast out both batters and add the finishing touches to the match.

The Stephenson Academy won the competition when it was last held in 2019 before it was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the other contest, Pickwick struggled against Wildey’s spinners after they were invited to bat and were dismissed in 35 overs for 117, while Wildey cruised to 119 for six in just 21.2 overs to win by six wickets with 18.4 overs to spare.

Khomari Griffith (3-12), Joshua Dorne (3-21) and Zishan Motara (2-7) destroyed Pickwick’s innings on a helpful pitch. Wicketkeeper Shem Sargeant was the only batter to reach 20 for Pickwick and added 36 with Barbados Under-15 captain Raphael Lovell (19), the highest partnership of the innings.

Motara returned to usher Wildey the winning target with an unbeaten 25 as spinners Damarko Wiggins (3-37) and Lovell (3-29) shared the wickets. (AH)