DXL Spartans take Canaan/Bon Accord Night Wind-ball title

DXL Spartans claimed their third consecutive title, at the conclusion of the Canaan/Bon Accord Night Wind-ball Cricket league, which was played at the community hard courts on Sunday.

Spartans, played unbeaten throughout the 12 days tournament, to lift the championship trophy and secure the ten thousand dollars cheque.

Fellow finalist East/West Outlaws could not negotiate their allotted ten overs on the night and were all out for 34 runs in only three overs and four balls.

Antonio Jordan provided some resistance in Outlaws’ innings, scoring a brisk 19 runs.

Antonio Providence bowling his right-arm medium pace for Spartans knocked over three wickets and only conceded two runs.

Providence, completed a memorable final, as his robust 23 runs not out, which included three sixes, was the highlight of Spartans’ response, in a total of 37 runs, without losing a wicket, in five overs.

Scrape-Up male and female teams defeated their opponents in the battle for third place. The women chased down Never Scared’s total of 27 for two wickets in their five overs, and responded with 29 for the loss of two wickets, with one ball remaining.

The men amassed 54 for six wickets batting first and restricted Kabs Roofing Buccoo to 47 for five in their ten overs.

Jordan was named the most valuable male player of the tournament for his combination of 91 runs and seven wickets. His Outlaw teammate Adrian Alexander received the accolade for most wickets, finishing with nine scalps.

Dejourn Charles of Spartans copped two individual awards for most runs (92) and highest individual score (43).

In the women’s final, Buccoo Reef Avengers engineered an 11-run victory over Good Vybez in the five overs encounter.

Avengers, bolstered by a top score of 19 runs from Claudette Mc Ewen and Pamela Malcolm 11 not out, posted a respectable 43 runs, for the loss of two wickets.

Good Vybez’s turn with the bat was shaken-up early as Mc Ewen, who was the chief destroyer with the ball, dismissed three batsmen for six runs.

None of the Good Vybez batsmen reached double figures, as their main contributor was Anna Roberts, who scored seven runs, in a total of 32 runs all out, in the final over.

Mc Ewen, was the premier talent among the women, as she took home all the female individual awards. Inclusive of the MVP acknowledgement, Mc Ewen scored the most runs (46), the highest individual score (19) and the most wickets (6).

The female champions received $3,000.

Commenting after her success, Mc Ewen said while she had a good tournament, she was not expecting the honours.

“I was just happy to play” she said. “I was surprised when my name was called for the awards, but I am elated to win all the prizes.”

She added “we were expecting a tough final, because they beat us in the first round, and did not lose any game before. I knew the team was depending on me tonight, so I was happy with my performance.

“Before we batted, we were aiming for a score of at least 45 to 50 runs, and we made 43, so we felt confident in defending that total.”

Mc Ewen lamented the lack of female cricket in Tobago. She said “I was shocked when the manager of the team asked me to play because there has been an absence of female cricket leagues in Tobago for over 20 years.

“It is good that the organisers included a female league because there is plenty talent, but we need more competitions to provide exposure and interaction among the girls.”

Marcus Daniel co-ordinator of the competition said despite weather concerns, he was pleased with the outcome.

“Our committee were initially concerned about the inclement weather hampering matches, but fortunately only one round of matches was affected by rain.

“All things considered, it was a good tournament, we had over five thousand spectators during the period, and a massive crowd tonight. It was also nice to see a high level of play by the teams during the tournament.

The competition attracted 16 teams, inclusive of four women’s teams, in its tenth season.

The Ministry of Sports and Community Development was the main sponsor of the tournament.