By Neto Baptiste
A 74-runs partnership between Player of the Match, Nino Henry, and Asher Murray-Cornelius, rescued the New Winthorpes Lions from the jaws of defeat and put them into the final of the Antigua and Barbuda Cricket Association (ABCA) Super40 where they will meet defending champions, Liberta Blackhawks.
Chasing 124 posted by Jennings Tigers after they had won the toss and opted to bat, Lions were teetering at 34 for five after 12.5 overs when Henry joined Cornelius at the crease. The pair put on the crucial partnership with Henry finishing not out on 49 off 53 balls, hitting three fours and three sixes. Cornelius scored 44 off 83 balls with three fours and one six as Lions posted 130 for six in 33.3 overs. Both batters were dropped in the early stages of their time at the crease.
Samuel Peters and Zavier Freeland both claimed two wickets for 21 runs in a losing effort for the Tigers.
Henry said he know the partnership would have been pivotal in the team’s success in the end.
“We knew all we needed was just one partnership to settle down the game. Jennings, we know they are a good bowling team so they are accustomed to scoring runs and defending it, so I guess that’s one of the reasons they batted first to put a total on the board and they got off to a good start. We had a packed house [on Sunday] in New Winthorpes, so there were lots of people on the park watching some local cricket which was good to see and we didn’t want to let them down,” he said.
Earlier, Kief Baltimore hit a top score of 36 off 33 balls with four fours and two sixes to help Tigers salvage their innings after being seven for 63 in the 23rd over.
Henry, who bagged three wickets for 15 runs in seven overs and Ian Eusebe who picked up three for 22 in eight overs, were the pick of the bowlers for Lions.
Lions and Blackhawks will meet in the final on May 19 at Liberta, while the losing teams, Jennings Tigers and Rising Sun Spartans, will clash in the third place contest one day earlier at Jennings.
The veteran player is wary of the task at hand but expresses confidence in his players.
“Liberta is a team we respect highly because they have been champions for years for a reason so it’s just a matter of us going out there and doing what we have to do on the day because cricket is played on the day. Everybody is happy, the whole village with people bringing food, people bringing drinks and it was just good celebrations over there. We know it is not over but it is the first time we are going to a final in over a decade,” he said.
On Saturday, Blackhawks defeated Rising Sun by eight wickets in their semifinal clash in Liberta.
