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The entertainment value might have been minimal.

But Alexandra came with a plan and executed it to perfection on yesterday’s opening day of the Cable & Wireless BET Under-15 cricket final against St. Peter neighbours Coleridge & Parry.

To the disappointment of most of the spectators at the BET Sports Complex, the run-rate throughout the day’s 64 overs was less than two runs an over and not a single ball reached the boundary.

Alexandra, sent in after the start was delayed by two hours because of rain that made the adjacent pitch softish, laboured 3 1/2 hours in eking out 123 runs for the loss of a solitary wicket.

Jamal Smith was very technically correct, presenting a straight, broad bat and hardly played a rash shot. There were some who heckled him, but to his credit, he batted though the day, diligently compiling 46 runs from 189 balls.

His opening partner, Kori Connell, was just as watchful, but his relatively big size and his slow running between the wickets cost Alexandra a few extra runs.

After he was out when the opening stand was worth 61 in 43 overs, captain Kirk Edwards arrived to show why he is rated among the best Under-15 batsmen in the country.

Edwards, just back from Guyana with the Barbados Under-15 team, immediately lifted the tempo with a few classy strokes in an innings of 33.

Before he came in, it was a crawl, but Alexandra games master Peter Vaughn defended the cautious approach as his team went about seeking their first title ten years after their only previous appearance in a final.

I thought the batsmen followed instructions and they batted within their limitations, he told NATIONSPORT.

Our game-plan is to bat at least a day-and-a-half or two days. That is what the boys were trying to do.

Vaughn, who has played Division 1 cricket for Combined Schools North, said a similar method would be adopted today.

We are going to try to bat as long as possible and put the runs on the board.

Once the batsmen apply themselves and continue to bat the way they have been batting, I believe we can score 250 runs comfortably, he said

Coleridge and Parry, champions in 1986 and 1991, were somewhat overawed by the occasion and it was reflected in several no-balls during the early stages and two missed chances.

In the second over, Smith was bowled by a no-ball from his namesake, Bayo Smith, who then watched Antonio Greaves put down a chance at first slip offered by Connell.

Jamal Smith was let off in the teens and, all told, Coleridge and Parry sent down 27 no-balls, six each from Bayo Smith and fellow pacer Derwin Worrell.

It is unfortunate that the opening bowlers had some no-ball problems and the catching was not what it should have been, but I thought that everything went as I expected, said games master Pedro Hinds.

It was a case of nervousness for some of the boys and a few instructions that got mixed up in the initial stages.

Coleridge and Parry tried eight bowlers, the attack evenly shared between spin and medium-pace, and it was the off-spin of Mario Burnett which eventually broke the opening stand.

A casual Connell, who had been missed by a diving Renaldo Parris at cover, turned a ball straight into forward short-leg’s lap to end an innings of 17 that required 137 balls and almost 2 1/2 hours.

Once Edwards replaced him, runs flowed as a much faster clip.