Semifinalists Set For Battle In Cool & Smooth T20 Explosion

The four teams advancing to the semifinals of the ongoing Cool & Smooth T20 Explosion have been decided and all are looking to take home the grand prize of EC$20,000 by advancing to and winning the finals scheduled for Saturday at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.
Defending champions, PIC Liberta Blackhawks, and the Bolans Cricket Club advanced from Zone 1 of the tournament, while last year’s losing finalist, Burton’s Laundry All Saints Pythons, alongside another previous finalist, CUB Bethesda Golden Eagles, advance from Zone 2.
Bolans will face Pythons at 4:30 p.m. while Gold Eagles will battle Blackhawks in the feature semifinal match scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Coach of the defending champions, Kenneth Benjamin, said the Blackhawks are aware of the potential of their opponents heading into the crucial contest.
“We are not underestimating anybody, we are not underestimating any team, we just have to get back to base and put plans together, put our strategy together and hopefully we can execute better,” he said. 
Captain of the Bethesda outfit and Leeward Island’s player, Devon Thomas, said that his team is not daunted by the thought of facing the team that has eliminated them from the competition on numerous occasions, stating only that it is the better team on the day that will take the spoils.
“We have to just come out on the day and play good cricket and I think who plays better cricket on the day will come out victorious, so on the day it’s left to see who shows up on the day and they will win the game,” the in-form player said.
Meanwhile, coach of the All Saints Pythons, Derrol Thomas, despite their run of good form so far, said that there is still work to be done as they prepare for a potentially dangerous Bolans team.
“The guys are firing at the top but I am not too happy with the middle. I want the middle to be more assertive, that if things fall apart at the top that we can pick up and carry on the job we have being doing all year so we are going to be working hard on the middle order and some more bowling,” the former player said.
Bolans, considered one of the minnows coming into this year’s tournament, has managed to turn their fortunes around and veteran Earl Waldron said they will continue doing the things that have made them a success thus far.
“We’re just looking at it as a semifinal and once we win then we are going to play the finals. We are not critiquing any team because we have confidence that we can beat any team that we meet and that’s how we’re looking at it. We are not strategising in any way and on the day we get there, depending on the condition of the pitch and all that then we will make a decision,” he said.
The winning team walks away with EC$20,000 while the losing finalists get EC$10,000.
A total of EC$5,000 goes to third place and EC$2,000 will go to fourth place.