THE Fortress Challenge Cup will be up for grabs when defending champions TeleBarbados Carlton and Fusionz Boutique Passage United meet once again in the final of the Desmond Haynes Under-16 cricket competition.
The 35-over contest comes off tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the Desmond Haynes Oval, Black Rock.
Both teams have played unbeaten up to this point in the tournament.
They seem evenly matched and therefore the winner could be determined by which team better absorbs the pressure.
In the semi-finals, last year’s losing finalists Passage United defeated CounterPoint Wanderers by 11 runs, while Carlton beat Pickwick Juniors by six wickets.
Even though the final had been put on hold for some time, the players on both sides have been in action for their various schools in the local competitions.
Some of them are also part of the Barbados Cricket Association’s Centre of Excellence programme at Kensington Oval.
Carlton’s quest for victory will be based around Nicholas Kirton, with 228 runs including three half-centuries, and fast-bowling all-rounder Shamar Springer (220 runs and 12 wickets).
Others such as captain Sachin Clarke, Lee-Germon Gaskin and Shomari Gibson have all chipped in at some point.
“We plan to go out there and defend our title. We just have to stick to the plan and everything should work out well,” said Clarke.
Passage United will pin their hopes on Zubair Lokhat (148 runs and 15 wickets), Hasani Newton, Deswin Currency and Sylvester Moore.
“We will be looking to put what we practise into play, go out there and perform to the best of our abilities and hopefully victory should come,” said Passage United captain Leniko Boucher.
The teams (from):
CARLTON – Sachin Clarke (captain), Lee-Germon Gaskin, Nicholas Kirton, Shamar Springer, Keion Harding, Javed Leacock, Darren Alleyne, Shomari Gibson, Dikembe Wilson, Christopher Taitt, Michal Stuart, Alexander Branch, Kadeem Boyce, Dario Brathwaite, Rey Williams.
PASSAGE UNITED – Leniko Boucher (captain), Hasani Newton, Deswin Currency, Sylvester Moore, Hakeem Ellis, Zubair Lokhat, Chermar Holder, Marston Burgess, Kamal Bridgeman, Micah Thornhill, Zidan Harewood, Shakkae Marshall, Ramon Greaves, Jadgeo Persaud, Zavio Trotman. (EDH)
