THE COUNTRY celebrated its 48th Anniversary as an independent nation last Monday, and so did the Vreed-en-Hoop’s Liahona Pacesetters (VLP), who were crowned champions of the Saints Premier League (SPL) T20 tournament with a commanding 70-run victory over Helaman’s Stripling Warriors (HSW) at the Wales Community Centre ground. In a one-sided fight, VLP won the toss and amassed 107 in 20 overs whereas HSW could only scrape together 37 runs off 13 overs, after VLP’s batting was less than sterling, thanks to the bowling of Ronaldo DeFreitas (3 for 12) and Dale Abool’s 3 for 21, who put the brakes on the power-hitters.
VLP openers in Kevin Oderman and Peter Alleyne who both made 12, along with Wazir Hussain (10), gave their team a brisk start until HSW’s youngest player, 14-year-old Joshua Singh restricted the flow of runs.
Another 14-year-old, this time Aaron Sewpersaud of VLP, attacked the opposition’s bowling to score 18 in 11 balls, to steer his side to their eventual total, after the middle order offered little resistance to the bowling of DeFreitas and Abdool.
In HSW’s reply, only Daniel Barker remained at the wicket long enough to topscore with 19, as Courtney Douglas tormented their batting lineup to end with 3 for 12, carting off the man-of-the-match award in the process.
HSW fans saw their top performers, especially the hard-hitting Pernell London and the consistent Corwin London fall for 3 and 0 respectively, as VLP fielders backed up their bowlers well, pulling off several spectacular catches, even as Alleyne and Andash Indardeo took two wickets each for 2 and 15 runs respectively to support Douglas.
In a short ceremony, tournament awards were issued by Ms Zailoon Barrow, a SPL Committee Member, with Douglas, Troy Murray, Pernell London, Corwin London and Wazim Hussain, all receiving man-of-the-match awards for their performances during the preliminary rounds.
The Most Wickets awards were also handed out to Indardeo (6 for 32), Douglas (9 for 39), DeFreitas (6 for 47) and Rasheed Rahaman (6 for 32).
The Saints Premier League’s tournament will recommence in another two months to coincide with the school holidays when it is expected to embrace T20 teams from more schools and religious organisations, with the main objective being the creating bonds of friendship for the youth and embracing the spirit of cricket and solid discipline.