By Neto Baptiste
Defending champions Empire Nation, Pigotts Crushers, Liberta Blackhawks and All Saints Pythons have all advanced to the semifinals of the Antigua and Barbuda Cricket Association (ABCA) Two Day Competition after finishing as the top four teams at the end of the preliminary round.
Empire finished at the top of the 10-team standings with 62 points after their nine showings with three wins and six draws. Pigotts, also with three wins but five draws and a loss, finished second with 56 points while Liberta and All Saints were third and fourth with 56 and 50 points respectively.
Liberta had three wins and six draws while Pythons had won three, lost two and drawn four of their nine matches.
The semis will bowl off on Saturday when Empire play All Saints at King George V Ground, and Liberta host Pigotts at Ball Beef.
New Winthorpes Lions (48 points), Bethesda Golden Eagles (42 points), Jennings Tigers (42 points), Rising Sun Spartans (41 points), Bolans Blasters (35 points) and Combined Schools (6 points) complete the standings.
Blackhawks were the biggest winners over the weekend with Leeward Islands player Karima Gore scoring a century in the first innings and a half century in the second innings to lead his team to a six-wicket triumph over Rising Sun Spartans in Liberta.
Batting first, Spartans were routed for 145 with their best effort from Kerry Mentore who made 27. Javier Spencer did the damage with the ball for Blackhawks, claiming six wickets for 45 runs in nine overs.
Player of the match, Gore, then slammed nine fours and one six on his way to 100 from 136 balls to lead Blackhawks to 189 all out. He had help from Joshua Thomas who made 42 from 66 balls. Michael Harrilall bagged three for 49 in 19 overs bowling for Spartans.
The visitors were then bowled out for 124 in their second innings with Hughan Tonge top-scoring with 33. Kadeem Phillip picked up three for 36 in 10.2 overs.
Gore then led Blackhawks to victory with a knock of 53 from 50 deliveries as they reached 81 for four in their second innings.
In the only other win over the weekend, Jennings Tigers defeated Combined Schools by five wickets.
In other results, All Saints Pythons picked up first innings points in their drawn match against Pigotts Crushers, Empire Nation gained first innings points in a draw against New Winthorpes Lions, while Bolans Blasters got first innings points in their drawn encounter with Bethesda Golden Eagles.
