UWI, Empire in T/20 final

SAGICOR UWI and ICBL Empire will clash in the Sagicor General Twenty20 cricket final, slated for Kensington Oval on July 7.Whereas UWI comfortably defeated BNB St Catherine by 29 runs in overcast conditions yesterday as the morning rain stopped to allow play to start at 2:35 p.m., Empire had an easy passage.The “Blues” advanced on superior net run-rate after their semi-final against CGI Maple at Trents was rained out.UWI as they posted a match-winning total of 159 for six in their 20 overs after being sent in on an easy-paced pitch, then restricted St Catherine to 130 for eight.Captain Romel Currency set the tone for the UWI innings with a fluent 46 off 42 balls with three fours and a six, but it was Craig Emmanuel who gave the innings a late boost. Emmanuel hammered three sixes and a four in rushing to 41 off just 22 balls to earn the Man-Of-The-Match award.Emmanuel and Currency smashed 45 runs in just four overs for the fifth wicket after UWI had slipped to 76 for four in the 13th over.The pair stepped up the pace after spinners Kenroy Williams and Derick Bishop, who only conceded 14 runs each, had completed their four-over allotment.Both hit fast medium bowler Joel Leacock for leg-side sixes in his only over which cost 17 runs.When Currency was run out, Liam Sebastien joined Emmanuel and made a breezy 19 off 12 balls with a six and a four, as UWI flayed the visitors’ bowling for 62 runs in the last five overs.In reply St Catherine lost opener Ronaldo Kellman for a duck in the first over as he cut a bouncing off-break from Ryan Austin into his stumps.Leacock, who hit the top score of 48 off 47 balls with four fours and a six, and Chad Proverbs then featured in a second-wicket stand of 73 for the second wicket off 12.3 overs.Leacock’s innings ended through a brilliant catch by Kjorn Ottley on the long-on boundary but Proverbs laboured for 20 off 33 balls without hitting a boundary as the required rate went up.By the time key batsmen Derick Bishop and Patrick Browne came in within three balls off each other in the 14th over, St Catherine needed a further 81 runs.The task was just too onerous as Browne never got going, being run out for two, while Bishop made a desperate last-ditch effort, scoring 27 off 21 balls including a magnificent switch hit for six over mid-wicket.Bishop was one of three wickets which fell in the final over as St Catherine bowed out in the semi-final for the second straight year.