BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – Statisticians are leafing through old scorecards and checking online sources to confirm, after Rovman Powell smashed what could possibly be the fifth fastest List A hundred in a losing cause for Jamaica Scorpions in the Colonial Medical Insurance Super50 Cup on Sunday.
But Leeward Islands Hurricanes withstood a brutal 106 off 40 balls from the Scorpions captain to win the penultimate Group A game at the Conaree Cricket Centre, adjacent to the Robert Bradshaw International Airport, and reach the semi-finals of the tournament.
View full scorecard here: https://www.windiescricket.com/matches/203423/
Entering the game, the two teams knew winning was essential, but the pressure was on the Scorpions to produce an extraordinary scoring rate and enhance their net run rate in the tournament, if they had any chance of reaching the semi-finals this coming week in Trinidad.
Watched by a modest, but highly vocal crowd that included CWI president Ricky Skerritt, Powell took up the challenge with pleasure, after his side ran into early trouble in their run chase and left them spellbound with an explosive display of batting, reaching his second hundred of the tournament from 38 balls with two runs into the leg-side off Quinton Boatswain.
Unfortunately for the Scorpions and to the good fortune of the Hurricanes, Powell was caught behind off Boatswain in the same over he got to the third hundred of his Super50 Cup career, reaching for a wide delivery to take plenty, if not all of the air out of the Scorpions’ chase and pave the way for a 13-run win for the home team.
The Hurricanes will play hosts Trinidad & Tobago Red Force in the second semi-final on Friday at the Queen’s Park Oval in the Trinidad capital of Port of Spain, where the first semi-final, a day earlier, will feature Group A winners Barbados Pride and either Guyana Jaguars or West Indies Emerging Players, one of which will be the runners-up in Group B.
All two semi-finals will begin at 1:30 p.m., the same time for the final, which is next Sunday at the same venue.
View highlights of all matches here: http://bit.ly/Super50Highlights
Set 256 to win, but crucially needing to achieve the target inside 31 overs to overhaul their opponents’ NRR, the Scorpions ran off the rails on 25 for three in the fifth over.
Powell, later named Player of the Match, came to their rescue, however, and he blasted 13 fours and seven sixes to make it a firm possibility.
It was always going to require a huge effort and the Scorpions could not sustain such a frenetic scoring rate and their chase ran aground in 28.3 overs.
Powell shared 42 with Andre McCarthy for the fourth wicket, put on a further 44 with Denis Smith for the fifth wicket before he added 51 for the sixth wicket with Derval Green that made the Hurricanes start to push the panic button.
Powell’s dismissal brought Hurricanes back into the game and the Scorpions still needed 94 from 96 balls to finish inside the prescribed “safe zone”.
Jamie Merchant made 30 and Green got 26, but spells of 10-1-85-4 from Boatswain and 10-0-62-1 from Berridge made the difference with the equation getting tighter.
Another Powell – Kieran – anchored the Hurricanes batting with 105 – his second hundred of the tournament and the fifth of his Super50 Cup career.
Powell struck 13 fours from 125 balls and was the rock upon which the Hurricanes built their total of 255 for eight off their allocation of 50 overs, after they were put into bat.
Outside of a second wicket stand of 154 between Powell and fellow left-hander Amir Jangoo, there was little substance from the rest of the Hurricanes batting
Jangoo, the Trinidad & Tobago-born, Hurricanes import, collected five fours in 69 from 85 balls, and Terance Warde got 26, but no other batsman reached 20.
West Indies fast bowler Oshane Thomas was the pick of the Scorpions bowlers with 3-59 from eight overs.
The group stage of the Super50 Cup comes to an end on Monday with three matches on the cards.
Group A play ends, when deposed champions Combined Campuses & Colleges face Canada in a daytime game, starting at 9 a.m. at Conaree. This game will be webcast “live” on the CWI website, www.windiescricket.com, and the Windies Cricket You Tube channel.
Group B play also ends, when hosts Trinidad & Tobago Red Force meet West Indies Emerging Players in a day/night, feature game, starting at 1:30 p.m. at Queen’s Park Oval. This game will be televised “live” on ESPN Caribbean in the West Indies.
A few miles due south, Guyana Jaguars battle United States in another day/night contest, starting at 1:30 p.m. at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba. This game will also be webcast “live” on the CWI website, www.windiescricket.com and the Windies Cricket You Tube channel.
lSource: CWI Media
