by Philip Hackett
Pickwick 251 and 62/9, Spartan 304, at Kensington Oval
An action-packed period of post-tea drama left Big B Spartan with a sniff of an unlikely victory, which was eventually averted by resolute batting from ESA Field Pickwick's middle and lower order.
Starting their second innings 53 behind immediately after the interval Pickwick crashed to four for five against accurate medium pace bowling from Mark Lavine (five for 17) and Richard Connelly (three for 17).
The slide started when left-hander George Harris, hooking at a short delivery from Lavine, skied a catch to wicket-keeper Livy Puckerin, running back.
Connelly removed Rondell Yearwood, caught at the wicket off the outside edge prodding forward and with the score unchanged Michael Matthews, who opened the innings with Harris because of an injury to Adrian Griffith, lofted a catch to Connelly on the backward square boundary off Lavine as Pickwick slipped to three for three.
This brought skipper Griffith hobbling to the crease to join Graham Bethell. Griffith had earlier aggravated a previous ankle injury while fielding.
Matthews soon joined him as a runner but there was little work for Matthews to do as Griffith was snapped up at silly mid-off by Rowehan Walcott, playing forward to Lavine.
Bethell drove Connelly hard but straight to Dexter Toppin at mid-off to leave Pickwick blushing at four for five.
Raymond Griffith (13) and Ryan Haynes (17) repaired the damage in a stand of 25 but not without several anxious moments as several balls fell perilously close to fielders.
Haynes was eventually caught by Stephen Leslie off Toppin but Miller gave Griffith sound support in a partnership which further frustrated Spartan.
Griffith, Ian Watts and Wayne Yarde also fell in the closing moments but the match was called off just after 5:30 p.m. with 1.3 overs left and Pickwick ahead by nine.
With the overs running out, Spartan would have needed to dismiss Pickwick no later than 5:27 to have the opportunity to chase a target since the mandatory 15 overs started at 4:37 p.m.
Earlier, Spartan, resuming on 227 for four, secured a comfortable 53 run first innings lead, mainly through the efforts of Stephen Leslie (33) and Dave Marshall (31). Yarde took three for 45 for Pickwick and Bethell three for 40.
St. Catherine Humbled By Maple
by Bernard Babb
St. Catherine 124-9 dec and 115, Maple 205-8 dec and 36-5, at Trents
MOUNT GAY Maple pulled off a commendable victory, stunning champions St. Catherine by five wickets with two balls to spare in their clash on the west coast.
Starting the day with a chance of forcing a victory, home team Maple kept their courage and focus to defeat St. Catherine for the second straight season.
After declaring at their overweek total of 205 for eight, Maple wrapped up the St. Catherine second innings for115, leaving them with a mere 35 for victory in nine overs.
Maple stumbled on the home run losing five wickets for 17 runs, but were pulled around by captain Andy Payne in the final two overs.
St. Catherine pacers checked the Maple second innings with early success removing Glenn Scott, Kregg Burgess and Dwight Bowen with just four runs on the board and further dented their ambitions by claiming Emmerson Jordan and Donovan Lopez for just 17 runs.
However, there was still some hope for the home side as captain Payne pushed himself down the order and was called on to rescue the team.
With Maple needing 15 off the last two overs he steered them to victory as they collected seven off the penultimate over, leaving the target within reach in the final over.
Payne eventually sealed the victory off the fourth ball of the final over bowled by Roger Blades as he on drove a well pitched delivery for a boundary.
``I always thought we had a chance of winning the game, and the fellows were very positive,'' Payne said of his Maple team .
He praised the bowling of fast bowler Emmerson Jordan who took six for 39 from 19.2 overs after St. Catherine looked capable of holding out for a draw, being 82 for five at tea.
Empire, YMPC In Stalemate
by Haydn Gill
Empire 150 and 91/7 decl'd, YMPC 118 and 65/6, at Bank Hall
TO SCORE 86 runs from 20 overs with nine wickets in tact should more than likely provide an entertaining run chase.
That was the equation for Sports & Games YMPC to beat ICB Empire, but the match surprisingly ended in a stalemate after a few tight overs turned things around.
In the end, YMPC's enterprising encouraging start of 38 in 6.5 overs was transformed into a cautious crawl and they ended well short after they were set a feasible 124 in a minimum of 27 overs.
Victor Walcott, for the second time in the match, kept Empire in the game with a fine spell of fast bowling in which he took four wickets and kept an immaculate line and length.
His captain, Robin Parris supported him from the other end with defensive left-arm spin and there was a period in which only eight runs were added in 7.1 overs after Sherwin Campbell and Adrian Jones had given the innings the early boost.
Once Jones was caught at gully off Walcott and danger man Kenrick Marshall edged a full-toss to the keeper off Parris in the space of three balls, YMPC lost their way when Leon Layne went to the wicket.
Layne managed seven off 23 balls, but even when Walcott had him caught at forward short-leg, YMPC still had a chance with Terry Rollock joining Campbell.
They needed 70 from 11 overs, but when Rollock hooked Walcott down the throat of deep backward square, the chase was aborted. Campbell, who cracked 19 from his first 20 balls, stood firm and was 26 from 78 balls when the match ended.
The start of play was delayed by 65 minutes because of a wet pitch and Empire, who resumed on 39 for four declared their second innings 10 minutes after tea.