Nicholls Baking Combermere are set to dethrone defending champions Easy Bake St Leonard’s Boys today in the LIME Under-15 cricket finals at the LIME cricket ground, Wildey.
Heading into today’s third and final day, Combermere, last year’s losing finalists, require just 49 runs to be crowned champions, after dismissing St Leonard’s for 133 in their second innings yesterday.
Starting the day with a healthy first innings lead of 85, Combermere had looked set to wrap up the contest inside two days, after reducing St Leonard’s to 31 for five inside the first two hours of play.
In what some irate spectators referred to as the turning point of the day’s play, St Leonard’s openers Tremaine Harris and Shakeel Turney had eased the score along to 13, before the groundsmen pulled the covers onto the pitch, citing overcast skies as a sign of imminent rain.
It resulted in a 15-minute stoppage for rain which never came. What did come though was a wicket, as Harris was bowled by Shemar Springer with the first ball on resumption.
Zavier Trotman was the next to go, giving Springer a simple catch at second slip as he played forward to a delivery from leg-spinner Kevon Bartlett.
Seven runs later, Turney stuck his bat out at a delivery from Springer to give Najee Holder a simple catch at second slip as St Leonard’s stumbled to 27 for three.
Captain Deswin Currency, who had carried such rich form in the opening rounds of the competition, for the second day in a row looked out of sorts.
And it was no surprise that after facing 40 balls for just eight runs, his miserable stay at the crease came to an end, when he was caught by wicketkeeper Ramon Greene off the bowling of Renaldo Callender.
Without another run added to the score, Rakim Hinds was back in the pavilion, and most people would have been expecting a Combermere victory shortly after.
But Chemar Holder joined Damario Goodman at the crease and the pair staged an entertaining fight-back to frustrate their opponents.
The pair added 86 in just over two hours to help St Leonard’s avoid an innings defeat, while giving them hope of posting a competitive second innings total.
Holder signalled his intentions from the start, pulling a loose delivery from Bartlett to the mid-wicket boundary, and followed that up with the shot of the day, an exquisite drive over mid-off that raced to the boundary.
Goodman, a diminutive left-handed batsman, chose to compile his runs with mainly singles and twos, as he dissected the field at will with well placed drives.
He also rode his luck, benefiting from three missed chances, as Combermere had no one but themselves to blame with a shoddy performance in the field.
With the pair coasting and the score on 117, it took a brilliant effort in the field to break the partnership and effectively end St Leonard’s resistance.
Najee Holder’s half volley was met with a thunderous off-drive from Holder, but he could only watch in amazement as Leniko Boucher at cover leapt into the air and took a sensational catch.
Holder’s 32 came off 102 balls and lasted 178 minutes. It contained two fours and a six.
Goodman did not last long after, being run out just three runs short of a well deserved half-century when his partner, Renaldo Boyce, refused to move out of his crease after he was called for an easy single.
St Leonard’s lower order folded meekly, with Springer coming back to wrap up the tail and finish with figures of four for 21, as Combermere head into today’s final day large and in charge.
