THANKS to an impressive spell of off-spin bowling from Lyndon Wilson who took 5 for 12, defending champions Headquarters (HQ) were able to record an eight-wicket victory over ‘A’ Division at the Police Sports Club ground, Eve Leary, thus booking a place in tomorrow’s final.

Their opponents will tentatively be ‘G’ Division, who rode on the back of half-centuries from Mustapha Zaman and skipper Kwesi Abrams, to defeat ‘C’ Division by 66 runs in their semifinal encounter at the same venue later yesterday afternoon, but will have to await the outcome of a protest filed by their opponents.
In the first encounter, HQ won the toss and invited their opponents to take first strike, following which Leon Crawford who, along with Leroy Marshall, opened the batting for ‘A’ Division, hit Keiko Garrick for six, before he was given two lives in successive overs.
Rawle Haynes held a magnificent catch at mid-on to remove Crawford who made 13 off 11 balls, before both Marshall and Jason Heyliger struck Haynes to the vacant third man position for respective boundaries and Heyliger pulled Erick Angel to long leg twice for two more fours.
The introduction of Wilson saw a steady procession to and from the pavilion by the ‘A’ Division batsmen, starting with Heyliger who was bowled by the burly off-spinner’s first delivery, while Randolph Knights chipped in with three quick wickets of his own, as ‘A’ Division were bowled out for 70 from 16 overs.
Extras top-scored with 16, while Heyliger who made 15 (3×4) and Crawford’s 13 (1×6) were the only batsmen to pass double figures against the bowling of Knights (3-16), Haynes (1-13) and Garrick who took 1-17 in support to Wilson.
When the defending champions began their response, they witnessed their skipper Troy Benn given a life at midwicket in the second over by Royston Grenville off Kelvin Leitch, before Munilall Persaud opened his shoulders to hit Heyliger over extra cover for six.
Benn joined the act by hitting Leitch for six, before he struck Leon Crawford back over long on for his second six, which was followed by a four, before the bowler had the last laugh, as he bowled the established batsman at 44 for 1 in the 7th over.
His demise did little to his team’s cause, as even though they lost the wicket of Erick Angel, who was run-out without scoring, Knights joined Persaud and saw his team home, hitting two fours and one six in his unbeaten 18, as HQ reached 73 for 2 from 12.3 overs.
In the second encounter, ‘C’ Division won the toss and asked ‘G’ Division to take first strike, a decision they must have felt pleased about when they dismissed a dangerous-looking Ramesh Chattergoon for 18 at 22 for 1 in the 3rd over, which was scored off 12 deliveries and included three furs and one six.
Abrams joined Zaman and they added 125 for the second wicket from 13 overs, scoring at close to 10 runs an over, hitting the hapless ‘C’ Division bowlers to all parts of the ground, with the latter hitting Damian France for 6 and 4 in one over, followed by a hat-trick of fours in the following over from Esaun Harding.
Zaman got to his 50, with a boundary off Emmanuel Davidson, counting 30 deliveries and hitting five fours and one six in the process and celebrated the milestone with two successive boundaries off Harding, before he was bowled by ‘C’ Division’s most successful Mortimer Durant who took 3 for 18.
His 65 took him 41 deliveries to accumulate and he struck a total of seven fours and one six and when he was dismissed, Fazeer Khan (8) and Robindra Panesar (0) followed him back into the pavilion in quick succession, thanks to Durant.
Dutifully, Abrams reached his half-century off the final delivery of the innings, facing a total of 47 deliveries in the process with five fours, as his team rattled up an imposing 175 for 5 from their 20 overs, against the back of Durant’s impressive bowling.
When ‘C’ Division batted, they lost wickets at a canter and were precariously placed on 36 for 5 in the ninth over, with Davidson (6), Curtis Duncan (12), Colin Ross (6), Jermaine Tyndall (2) and Ronald Thomas (1) being the batsmen dismissed.
Durant (24, 2×4) and Harding (15, 2×4) then came together and purposefully staged ‘Operation Recovery’ for their team, as the former hit Jeffrey Burnett for two fours in his first over, while the latter showed he can hit boundaries as well, when he struck Swain Benn and Panesar for individual boundaries.
When Chattergoon held a low, diving catch at midwicket to remove Durant, the pair had added 47 valuable runs to their team’s total from 4.4 overs.
The other batsmen offered little or no resistance to ‘G’ Division’s bowling after Durant was run-out courtesy of a direct hit from short backward square leg by Roopnarine Ramnarine, as ‘C’ Division declared their innings closed at 109 for 9 off 16.2 overs, with Kester Moriah unable to bat due to an injured shoulder.
Abrams, Swain Benn and Burnett took two wickets each for 8, 12 and 17 runs respectively for ‘G’ Division, who would be hoping that the protest filed against Zaman and Fazeer Khan by ‘C’ Division returns null and void, if they are to face HQ in tomorrow’s final.