By Neto Baptiste
Empire Nation will seek to dethrone defending champions Liberta Blackhawks when the two teams clash in the final of the Cool and Smooth T20 Explosion on Saturday at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
The two powerhouse teams advanced to the final following victories in the semifinals at the North Sound venue on Thursday night.
Playing in the opening match, Empire Nation advanced following a last ball four-wickets triumph over Pigotts Crushers.
Needing one run to win from the final ball on the Duckworth and Lewis method, Empire got to their revised target of 125 off 15 overs to book their place in Saturday night’s championship match.
Empire were led by Mikyle Louis who top scored at the top of the order with 39, while veteran Justin Athanaze made 29 not out off 17 deliveries. Tyrone Williams Jr contributed with 22 off 17.
Robert Shadrack Jr was the pick of the bowlers for Crushers with three for 19 in three overs. Elroy Francis Jr snatched two for 28 in three overs.
Athanaze looked ahead to Saturday’s final, predicting it will take a mammoth effort keeping Blackhawks in check.
“For us, it’s just to play our cricket. As long as we can bowl well and field well and stick to our game plan as much as possible, and think going forward to each over and each ball, we can come out victorious. It is going to take a team effort going in to the final tomorrow,” he said.
Earlier, Crushers were led by player of the match Kristan Kallicharan, who made 72 from 52 deliveries to guide them to a competitive 159 for five in their 20 overs. Jewel Andrew chipped in with 52 runs off 51 balls.
Rain however interrupted play with Empire on 66 for 2 from eight overs, forcing match official to enforce the Duckwork and Lewis method.
Meanwhile, Blackhawks brushed aside Bolans Blasters by 10 wickets to advance to the final in the feature contest.
Sent to bat, Blasters were bowled out for just 87 in 17 overs. Tajeja Tonge top scored with 21. Andre Bailey (2/2) and Hayden Walsh Jr (2/20) were the pick of the bowlers for Blackhawks.
The Liberta men were then led by Leroy Lugg who made 43 not out off just 16 deliveries with five sixes and two fours. Player of the match, Kofi James, contributed with 21.
James said the game plan was always to try and restrict the opponents to a low score.
“It was just about containing them, restricting the boundaries because chasing on that pitch you never know what was going to happen in terms of the rain and the dampness on the wicket, so it was just about keeping it tight and restricting the boundaries and we did that. We knew they would not score a big total after a while but it was just about not giving them any runs,” he said.
Saturday’s final will bowl off at 7:30 pm, while the third place match will start at 3:00 pm.