By Neto Baptiste
Pigotts Crushers and Empire Nation both secured spots in the semifinals round of the Cool & Smooth T20 Explosion with victories at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Monday night.
Playing in the first match off a double-header at the North Sound venue, Crushers defeated a hopeful Jennings Tigers by 80 runs to move to 20 points and third in the eight-team standings.
Winning the toss and opting to bat, Crushers raised 150 for seven in their 20 overs with player of the match Elroy Francis Jr hitting a top score of 54. Ben Sexton and Glenton Williams were the pick of the bowlers for the opponents with two wickets each.
When their turn at the crease arrived, Jennings were removed for just 70 in 16.2 overs. Paul Miller top-scored with 26. Chris Greaves (2/5), Demari Benta (2/17) and Kadeem Henry (2/20) were the pick of the bowlers for Crushers.
Coach of the Pigotts Crushers team, Ajarni Frederick, said their strategy hinged on the fact that Jennings was without one of their key players.
“They lost their captain and leading runs scorer in DAhari Francis who travelled to England, which gave us a little extra boost in terms of how we were going to approach them. Once we planned tactically how we were going to do it, we executed well [Monday night] and it came off,” he said.
Meanwhile, Empire Nation recorded a nine-wicket victory over All Saints Pythons as they moved to second in the standings.
Pythons were removed for just 95 in 17.3 overs after they were sent to bat by Empire Nation. Michael Dover was their biggest contributor with the bat, hitting 35 off 27 deliveries.
Micah McKenzie (3/11) and Justin Athanaze (3/15) were the pick of the bowlers for Empire. Player of the match, Mikyle Louis snatched two wickets for one run in just three balls.
Empire then raced to 100 for one in just 8.4 overs. Scottish international Matthew Cross top-scored with 49 not out from 23 deliveries. He struck five sixes and two fours. Louis made 42 from 26 with three sixes and four fours.
Athanaze said opting to field was all part of the plan following discussions with teammates.
“I was talking to the wicketkeeper [Matthew Cross] from Scotland and he was saying the pitch looked a bit cracked when we went there and then they rolled it. We figured that as long as we win the toss and put some pressure on them and try to restrict them to under 120, because as long as you have good bowlers on the other side you can restrict anybody after you do that,” he said.
The win carries Empire to 20 points off their seven matches and second in the standings, while Pythons are second from bottom with just 10 points.