Empire and Montserrat lay firm foundation in T20 Explosion

Empire football and the invited Montserrat national cricket team joined Sunday’s winners in the 2017 Cool & Smooth T20 Cricket Explosion on the points standing, recording victories in their opening group fixtures at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground on Monday night.
Montserrat, winning the toss and opting to bat against the Jennings cricket team, posted 202 for six in their 20 overs with Jaison Peters slamming 73 not out. His knock came in 40 deliveries with nine fours and one six.
Shawn Tuitt also contributed with the bat, hitting 62 off 42 deliveries which included four fours and three sixes. Tyson Mickle was the only bowler of note for Jennings, bagging three wickets for 22 runs in three overs.
Jennings in reply, could only reach 112 for seven in their 20 overs with their top knock of 29 coming from Morton Browne.
Shernyl Browne had two wickets for 23 runs off four overs while Brian Stephanie, Damion Williams, Deno Baker and Waurell Smith all picked up one wicket each for the victors.
Coach of the Montserrat team, Winston Lane, said the plan was to get between 175 and 200 runs on the board.
“Our base target was about 175 but we always know that with the type of team structure we have, with the batting power that we have, we should be able to get 200 on most occasions. But I think our team platform is basically 175 and anything above that is a plus, because I think our bowling is really our min strength,” he said.
In Monday’s other contest, Empire defeated the Bolans cricket team by 83 runs.
Winning the toss and opting to field did not play in Bolans’ favour as Empire racked up 176 for nine in their allotted 20 overs. Owen Graham top scored with 42 runs while Melvin Charles followed closely with 41.
Martin Caesar bagged four wickets for 28 runs in four overs while Orlando Peters had two wickets for 19 runs in his four overs, both bowling for Bolans.
When their turn at the crease arrived, Bolans flattered to deceive, reaching just 93 for nine in their 20 overs. Only Roel Roy and Bertel Baltimore showed promise with 19 runs each.
Mali Richards did the damage with the ball for Empire, picking up three wickets for 27 runs while Graham snatched two for 11.
Coach Ian Tittle, although happy for the opening victory, was not satisfied with his team’s overall performance.
“In our batting, I think we fell short by about 30 runs but everything worked out the way we wanted. I think we bowled really well last night so we just need a bit more improvement and we will be good but we still need a lot of improvement, fielding wise, because I see a lot of catches still being dropped and a lot of misfielding,” he said.
On Wednesday, Bethesda face Jennings at 4 pm and Bolans meet Montserrat at 7 pm.