By Neto Baptiste
Veteran cricketer Anthony Martin, who scored the winning runs for CUB Bethesda Golden Eagles in Sunday’s Super 40 final against Anderson E Carty Empire Nation, has described the feat as “a wonderful feeling”.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show on Monday, the former West Indies and Leeward Islands spinner said that although the situation was a nerve wracking one, having former Leeward Islands teammate Gavin Tonge at the crease with him provided the confidence needed to get the job done.
“Last ball, one run; so I just went to Tonge [Gavin] and he asked me what I was going to do but when I checked I saw that the Empire skipper was bringing everyone into the circle. So I just said to him ‘well, he can’t bowl short because if he bowls short it’s going to be easy so he must pitch it up in order to try and let me hit it to a fielder on the offside’. So I just said to Tonge that I am going to try and hit it as hard as possible so even if it goes to someone it would take a good piece of fielding and if they don’t field cleanly we would still get the run,” he said.
Martin struck the winning run off the final ball of the last over bowled by the experienced Linton Africa for Empire Nation. Bethesda, playing at home, needed seven runs from the final over as they chased 147 from 25 overs or victory.
Their original target of 207 from 40 overs was reduced after rain stopped play shortly after the start of their run chase.
Martin said the game and the victory was a proud moment for the players and the community.
“It’s been a while since I have seen the community get together like that so it was a great feeling to see that the community really came out and support us and we gave them the reward. They would have been there from the start of the season until the end and so the reward was great for ourselves and also for the community, the spectators, and all the fans,” he said.
Captain of the Bethesda team Deran Benta, though happy for the victory, said he thought their opponents would have posted a much larger total.
“That pitch [on Sunday] was a batting paradise, to be honest, and I think Empire should have scored more because they have a longer batting line up than us but they didn’t capitalize. After they [umpires] came to us and said that we have 13.2 overs to get 93, I was like wow,” the national player said.
Martin finished on 17 not out off 14 deliveries while Tonge finished with 41 not out from 37 balls. They had help early in the order from Kevin Pitman who made 41 from 59 deliveries and Essan Warner with 25.