By Neto Baptiste
Rising Sun Spartans continued their winning ways in the Antigua and Barbuda Cricket Association (ABCA) 10 Splash Cricket tournament and kept their unbeaten streak intact when, on Wednesday, they hammered a struggling All Saints Pythons by eight wickets at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.
Winning the toss and opting to bat, Pythons raced to 84 for 4 in their allotment of 10 overs. Malik Marcellin hit a top score of 33 off 18 balls, slamming three fours and one six. Kerry Mentore was not out on 23 from 18 deliveries.
Captain and fast bowler Stanny Simon was the pick of the bowlers for Spartans, claiming two wickets for 18 runs in his two overs.
When their turn at the crease arrived, Spartans reached their target with four balls to spare, getting to 86 for two in 9.2 overs. They were led by Tassillo Allen who hit 35 from 22 balls while Delon Wills was not out on 20 from 16 deliveries.
Following the clash, Simon praised his players for their efforts thus far, adding that the focus remains on improving with every match.
“Our focus mainly would be to still improve on our fielding, still improve in areas where we need improving on and stay focused and keep winning games to the end,” he said.
In Wednesday’s other clash, PIC Liberta Blackhawks edged Jennings by 12 runs.
Batting first, Blackhawks amassed 90 runs in their 10 overs, losing five wickets in the process. They were led by captain Kofi James, who made 25 from 16 deliveries, and Avier Christian, who added 24 from 14 balls.
Paul Miller was the pick of the bowlers for Jennings, bagging two wickets for 13 runs in two overs.
Jennings fell short at 78 for five with veteran player Orlando Peters getting 42 from 27 deliveries. He slammed three fours and two sixes.
James picked up two wickets from 19 runs in two overs.
The national player expressed satisfaction with how his bowlers approached the situation and were able to restrict Jennings.
“It was a situation where we need our most experienced bowlers whether it was pace or spin and so I figured that Wilden Cornwall Jr is experienced enough so he as due to get the ball. Miandre is bowling well and he is also one of the most experienced bowlers also and both of them are seamers so it wasn’t the fact that I wanted to bowl spin or pace, it was just based on experience and who we figured could do the job,” he said. Spartans and Blackhawks are first and second in respectively in Zone 1 with eight points each while Pigotts crushers and New Winthorpes Lions are on eight and four points in the first and second positions respectively in Zone 2.