By Neto Baptiste
There were wins for Liberta Blackhawks, All Saints Pythons and Mahico in the opening round of the Antigua Commercial Bank (ACB) Caribbean Parish Thursday League competition as action in the 20 overs competition bowled off this week.
Blackhawks opened their campaign with a seven-wicket triumph over Police when they clashed at Liberta.
Batting first, Police posted 117 for seven in their 20 overs with Malique Gerald hitting a top score of 47. Wilden Cornwall Jr and Avier Christian both claimed three wickets for 10 runs bowling for the home team.
Blackhawks then got to their target at 118 for three in 13 overs with Ahmal Nathaniel leading the charge with 27 not out. Leeward Islands player Karima Gore also batted not out for 25. James Cornelius grabbed two wickets for 17 runs bowling for the lawmen.
Meanwhile, All Saints Pythons made light work of Pigotts Crushers to win by five wickets when they met at Pigotts.
Winning the toss and electing to bat, Crushers were bowled out for just 69 runs with their best effort coming from Bartlet Henry who made 16. Andra Simon led the bowling for the visitors with three wickets for 13 runs while there were two wickets each for Kenny Sutton (2/10) and Emroy Lee (2/11).
All Saints then got to 71 for five with Michael Marcellin hitting a top score of 30 while Sutton chipped in with 15. Morton Browne (2/8) and Vishal Gobin (2/5) were the top bowlers for Crushers in a losing effort.
In Thursday’s other match, Mahico defeated Rising Sun Spartans by 48 runs when they met at Rising Sun. Mahico raised 151 for four off 18 overs with Brandon Jn Baptiste in fine form, striking six sixes and four fours on his way to 65 from 31 deliveries. Kenrick Scott and Tyrone Williams Jr chipped in with 27 not out and 26 not out respectively.
Jewel Andrew picked up two wickets for 12 runs in three overs bowling for the home team.
When their turn at the crease arrived, Spartans fell short at 103 all out in 16.3 overs. Melvin Charles top scored with 21 from 24 deliveries while Ozan Williams made a quick fire 17 from six balls, hitting two sixes and a four.
Jedidiah Martin did the damage with the ball for Mahico, claiming four wickets for 16 runs from four overs. There were two wickets each for Glenton Williams and Xaveek Toppin.