Faced with rain-affected pitches, batsmen struggled for runs, with low totals being the order of the day when the Barbados Cricket Association’s Division Two semi-finals bowled off yesterday.
At Bridgefield in St Thomas, fast-medium bowler Lamar Mayers exploited a helpful pitch to take a seven-wicket haul and put PHD?St John Cultural in a strong position against Ince Transport MTW.
Sent in, St John Cultural were dismissed for 128 in 28 overs with 20-year-old left-handed opener Jonathan Holder smashing five sixes and a four in a top score of 57.
Mayers, a lanky 22-year-old former Lodge School cricketer, then spearheaded the demolition of MTW, who made a paltry 62 in 18 overs. Mayers took seven wickets for 22 runs in his allotted seven overs.
At one stage, MTW?were 22 for eight but their 52-year-old captain, Denis “Pemmy” Payne (13), and Justin Batson (19) added 32 valuable runs for the ninth wicket.
Batting a second time, St John Cultural, with a first innings lead of 66 runs, reached five for one wicket at stumps, losing the wicket of Joel Moore, who had featured in a first innings opening stand of 53 in 6.5 overs with Holder.
In the neighbouring parish of St Andrew at the KMV Oval in Lakes, Maxwell rallied to 65 in 25 overs to take a four-run first innings lead over Seven Seas Police, who were dismissed for 61 in 25 overs. (EZS)
Summarized scores:
At Lakes: Police 61 in 25 overs (V. Bradshaw 16, D. Thompson 13; R. Burke 4-19, D. Edwards 3-18, H. Cummins 2-13) and 10-1. Maxwell 65 in 25 overs (R. Burke 12, D. Thompson 4-10, S. Brathwaite 3-13).
At Bridgefield: St John Cultural 128 in 28 overs (Jonathan Holder 57, J. Moore 11, K. Padmore 10; D. Payne 3-24, G. Alleyne 3-33) and 5-1. MTW 62 in 18 overs (J. Batson 19, D. Payne 13; Lamar Mayers 7-22, H. Walrond 2-7).
