Patriots march into T20 Festival semis

MARCHIN Patriots strolled into the semifinals of the CPL/TKR T20 Festival with an easy 95-run victory over Yorkshire at the Queen's Park Oval, St Clair on March 16.

Batting first, the Patriots openers Kadeem Alleyne and Evin Lewis continued to dominate opposing bowlers. The pair put on 128 for the first wicket in less than nine overs, before Lewis fell for 59 off 26 balls. The left-handed batsman slammed four fours and six sixes.

The onslaught continued after the loss of Lewis, as Alleyne found an able partner in Teshawn Castro.

Castro found the fence regularly as he scored 36 of the 53 runs the duo put on.

In the 14th over, Yorkshire's Adrian Mohammed (2/39) grabbed the wickets of Alleyne and Castro. Castro first fell for 36 off 19 deliveries with three fours and two sixes and two balls later, Alleyne was dismissed for 76 off 39 balls with eight fours and five sixes.

Crystian Thurton and Kirstan Kallicharan, who grew up playing cricket together at the national junior level, then put on an unbroken stand of 77 runs to steer Patriots to 259/3 in 20 overs.

Thurton led the partnership with 50 off 20 balls (four fours, four sixes) and Kallicharan struck 25 not out off 18 (two fours, one six).

In reply, Yorkshire could only muster 164/7 in 20 overs as left-arm spinner Ricky Jaipaul grabbed 4/28 in four overs. Opener Ethan Gibson was the top batsman for Yorkshire, hitting 55 off 35 balls with eight fours and one six.

Patriots and Queen's Park Cricket Club have qualified for the semifinals from Group A.

The final preliminary round of Group B will be held on March 19, but FC Clarke Road United and PowerGen have already sealed their places in the final four. Clarke Road and PowerGen will meet at 2.30 pm with the winner topping the group.

The semifinals will be held on March 21 and the final on March 22.

Summarised scores:

MARCHIN PATRIOTS 259/3 (20 overs) (Kadeem Alleyne 76, Evin Lewis 59, Crystian Thurton 50 not out; Adrian Mohammed 2/39) vs YORKSHIRE 164/7 (20 overs) (Ethan Gibson 55, Ziggy Levy 32; Ricky Jaipaul 4/28, Kashtri Singh 2/31). Patriots won by 95 runs.