By Neto Baptiste
Wayne’s Electrical Services Rising Sun Spartans is the first team to be crowned champions of the newly revamped ACB Caribbean Parish League Cricket Thursday League T20 Competition following a six-wicket triumph over PIC Liberta Blackhawks in the final on Thursday.
Batting first at home, Blackhawks raised 133 for nine in their 20 overs with Kofi James hitting a half century at 50. Amahl Nathaniel chipped in with 33. Deran Benta was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors with three wickets for 20 runs. There was three wickets as well for Owen Graham as he claimed his three scalps for 30 runs while Tassilo Allen bagged two for 11.
Captain of the Rising Sun Spartans, Kerry Mentore, said after having restricted Blackhawks to such a low score, they were almost certain of victory.
“When we restrict them to 130 something on a good pitch and good outfield and with the caliber of batting that we have, we think we had it in the bag right there. When we started we had a plan and we stuck to our plan which was to restrict them to under 140 and we did that so it was no [stress]. We did what we had to o and we were quite happy,” he said.
In pursuit of their target, Spartans found success at 136 for four in 17.4 overs. Graham led the charge with the bat, hitting a top score of 37, while Melvin Charles made 35. James was the pick of the bowlers for Blackhawks with three wickets for 34 runs.
Mentore said the victory cemented their dominance over Blackhawks in the Thursday League competition.
“We had a game before in the same competition against them, chasing also and it was a much higher task and we did that so we were not surprised. The first one was at home and one was by me and this one was in Liberta with their fan base and stuff like that so it was a good feeling and it’s pleasing,” he said.
In the final match of the 2023 Parish League Cricket season, rivals Police and Freetown will face off in the final of the Dave Joseph Limited Overs Competition on Saturday at Urlings. The final will start at 1pm.