Powergen seek to retain UWI T20 crown

DEFENDING UWI Twenty20 (T20) champions Powergen will be looking to retain their title when the 2019 UWI-UNICOM T20 Cricket Tournament bowls off today. Action commences from 10 am at the Sir Frank Worrell Ground at The UWI Sport and Physical Education Centre (SPEC), although the titleholders won’t be in action until next week.

Today’s fixtures will instead consist of Group A action with Endeavour playing Queen’s Park in the opening game, last year’s semi-finalist Merry Boys then taking on Endeavour at 2pm, and Queen’s Park facing Merry Boys at 6pm.

Group B drama will unfold tomorrow with the matches occurring at the same times, as Prisons take on Central Sports and then Munroe Road, before Munroe Road and Central Sports (another semi-finalist from 2018) close out proceedings.

The other preliminary fixtures will see EYM, Cane Farm and FC Clarke Road battling it out in Group C on January 13. Group D matches will pit Powergen, Tobago’s Club Crusoe and UWI against each other the day after at the same venue. The entry cost of these matches are $20 at the gate.

The semis will bowl off on January 25 with the winners of Groups A and D facing off, while January 26 will see the winners from Groups B and C looking to seal the other spot in the final. The final will occur on January 27, with all knockout games starting

at 6pm. The general cost of entry for these games is $40 at the gate, with staff and students paying $20. Powergen will be looking to secure back-to-back titles and cop the $35,000 grand prize once more. The runner-up will pot $15,000 with the losing semi-finalists netting $4,000.

Last year, Powergen restricted one of the favourites, Cane Farm, to 127 for 7 in their 20. Skipper Lendl Simmons made 34 with Rayad Emrit cracking 24, but despite having other West Indian and national stars in the side such as Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul and Imran Khan, they couldn’t restrict the opposition. Powergen got to 128 to steal the title thanks to Evin Lewis’ whirlwind 34 off 24. However, with the West Indies prepping to host England and the Regional 4-Day Championship occurring at the moment, it is expected that the tournament will have a more grassroots and domestic feel to it, giving players on the national team fringes a chance to express themselves and make it into Red Force contention later on.

2019 UWI-UNICOM T20 FIXTURES

Today’s matches: Endeavour vs. Queen’s Park (10am), Endeavour vs. Merry Boys (2pm) and Queen’s Park vs. Merry Boys (6pm)

Tomorrow’s matches: Prisons vs. Central Sports (10am), Prisons vs. Munroe Road (2pm) and Munroe Road vs. Central Sports (6pm)

Jan 13: EYM vs. Cane Farm (10am), EYM vs. Clarke Road (2pm) and Cane Farm vs. Clarke Road (6pm)

Jan 14: Club Crusoe vs. Powergen (10am), Club Crusoe vs. UWI (2pm) and Powergen vs. UWI (6pm)

Jan 25, 26: Semi-finals (6pm)

Jan 27: Finals (6pm)

Entry cost of preliminary matches: $20 at the gate

Entry cost of knockout matches: $40 at the gate, $20 for UWI staff and students.