It’s not over till it’s officially over

BELIZE CITY, Wed. June 7, 2017–Hello, all cricket fans, followers and supporters, wherever you are! With gratitude to our sponsor, Bowen and Bowen, the Harrison Parks 2017 Cricket Competition continued under the auspices of the Belize National Cricket Association. Two lovely games were played on Saturday and Sunday.

To start off, on Saturday at Bermudian Landing, Team Wicked 11 went there against Summer Fever. Their goal was to try seal off the series and go to the semifinals as they, Wicked 11, had won at Flowers Bank last Saturday against this team. Well, Summer Fever had news for them, as they took to bat first. How they drilled the Wicked ones! At the fall of the last wicket, 218 was on the score sheet. This seems like a winning score for the high spirited Fever boys. Wickets fell in this order: 1 for 15; 2 for 19; 3 for 20; 4 for 53; 5 for 69; 6 for 81; 7 for 111; 8 for 141; 9 for 160; all for 218.  In that inning, Jermaine Baizar scored 55, followed by Kenton Young with 44. Walter Flowers and Keon Robinson took 3 wickets each.

When the Wicked ones came off the field, one could see that the heat of the Fever took a toll on them. I know that although they might be feeling down, they are not the men to give up that easily; for, when their turn came to show muscles, they did just that. Although, at the end, they fell short because of the clever and strong  bowling of Conway Young, who took 4 wickets, it was a fight. The building of the score went this way by falling wickets: 1 for 3; 2 For 3; 3 for 5; 4 for 9; 5 for 76; 6 for 80; 7 for 110; 8 for 114; 9 f or 136; all for 173. In that inning, Kendis Moody scored 43, followed by Shelton Robinson with 27. So the game ended, and both teams are tied. The tie breaker will be this Saturday at Lords Bank, if weather permits.

On Sunday, everyone took the ride to the pleasant village of Double Head Cabbage to see a game played between Berlan and the home team, Excellence. The weekend before, Excellence had defeated Berlan. Today, the home team will try to send Berlan home for good. The Berlan team, I guess, will do anything and everything possible to win. Not illegally, of course. I know for sure, Berlan will change strategy from last week. Well, both teams have to have some strategy to try overcome their opponents.

Berlan took to bat first, and things started to look good in their favor. This is the way wickets fell for runs: 1 for 15; 2 for 30; 3 for 44; 4 for 158.  Excellence realized that things are getting out of hand; but whatever they did, Berlan kept pounding them. So it continued: 5 for 170; 6 for 181; 7 for 186; 8 for 204; 9 for 210; all for 242. Prashant scored 64, followed by Vinod with 59. Orison Flowers really tried by taking 4 wickets, but damage has been done.

Now, if Berlan’s bowling is not good, Excellence could walk over that score easily. They went to bat then, in hopes of reaching and passing Berlan’s score. Runs started to score quickly. The way wickets started falling, it could have gone in any teams favor. It happened this way, as Prashant started to put pressure on the batsmen: 1 for 39; 2 for 52; 3 for 104; 4 for 105; 5 for 117. I’m not quite sure when Jonathan Benjamin went in, but he was making a mark on the pitch. It continues: 6 for 131; 7 for 132; 8 for 171; 9 for 193. The score then reached 202. As I mentioned, Benjamin was the star. He hit a ball that never caught the bat good, went in the air, and was caught. That ended a well matched and played game. Benjamin scored 86, while Prashant took 7 big wickets.  Well, without a doubt, a tie breaker has to be played to determine a winner. That will be this Sunday in Lords Bank.

So, cricket fans, come out to Lords Bank this Saturday and Sunday and witness first hand which teams are going home hanging heads. It’s do-or-die games that will be played.

For now, I say bye bye, till next week. Respect and enjoy. Best of luck to all teams!