THREE wickets each from Gavin Singh and Vishal Jaigobin and a half-century from Marcus Watkins propelled Eccles Sports Club to victory over Providence in the East Bank of Demerara Cricket Association (EBDCA) Neville Sarjoo Memorial 40-over tournament yesterday at the Gandhi Youth Organisation (GYO) ground.

Sitting  atop the table, the previously unbeaten Providence (34 points) won the toss and decided to bat first, with opener Martin Pestano-Belle leading the charge with 60. The 23-year-old slammed six fours and five sixes in his stay in the middle and had a solid partnership with D. Paul, who hit five fours in his score of 29.

A few other batsmen had starts, but none kept their wicket as Jaigobin destroyed the middle order to finish with 3-29 from eight overs.  Singh, who scored a blistering unbeaten 126 against Nandy Park the previous weekend, cleaned up the tail with his off-spin (3-13 from three overs) as Providence were bowled out for 181 in 32 overs.

In reply, Marcus Watkins and Daniel Barker did the damage.  The number three and four batsmen batted their team out of trouble before batting Providence out of the game. Although both lost their wickets, they had scored enough runs to ensure that the batsmen that followed had an easy route to victory.

Watkins belted the ball to all parts of the ground in his knock of 63 (7x4s and 3x6s), while Barker added an entertaining 33 runs (4x4s, 1×6).   Also contributing to the target was Barnard Bailey who finished with an unbeaten 24 (3x4s, 1×6) as Eccles reached 182-5 in 25 overs.

Off-spinner Pestano-Belle led Providence’s bowling attack with 2-16 from three overs.

Captain of Eccles Sports Club, Kelvin Singh, said that he was excited with the back-to-back victories and credits his players’ dedication and the support of his sponsors for their success.

The team’s sponsors include: Pestex, Atlantic Petroleum, Howard Restaurant, and James Mechanical Welding and Fabrication (aka JSB).