BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Aug. 29, 2019
Wonderful time of the day to all!
Under the auspices of the Belize National Cricket Association (BNCA), the Barry Bowen/ Harrison Parks 2019 Cricket Competition continued on Saturday with game 2 of the finals at Flowers Bank, where the home team Wicked 11 defeated BDF and tied the match series at 1 game apiece.
It was a do-or-die, for the Wicked boys. But, as I have stated earlier, these boys know how to defend their turf; and they did it with ease. BDF won the toss and gave Wicked 11 the opportunity to bat first. In my opinion then, I believed that was a mistake. But, after discussing this with other experienced cricketers, I was made to understand that this is a strategy. Well, it did not work out for the army, because the first two batsmen, leading with veteran Winston Flowers, started to put pressure on the army’s bowlers. As hard as T’Shaka Patterson and Bernan Stephenson tried, who took 4 and 3 wickets, respectively, when the first batsman was out, the score stood at 56. Then the game went like this: 2 for 164; 3 for 217; 4 for 225; 5 for 227; 6 for 232; 7 for 237; 8 for 237; 9 for 238; and all for 249.
During the inning that BDF was at bat, a batsman was given out. Because this batsman did not walk off peacefully, but was disrespectful in the spirit of the game, 5 extra runs were awarded to Wicked 11’s score, making it final 254.
If you noticed carefully again, Winston Flowers was the Man of the Day, scoring 92. Aaron Muslar helped very much by scoring 69. The others did not pull much weight. In my previous article, Winston did very well. (On that part, I will not say much, to avoid anyone saying that I am taking sides for any team. I try to write as I see it. Errors could happen; but please, they are not done intentionally.)
Standing on the sideline, I could notice heads were hanging.
After lunch break and mingling, it’s time to rumble. The army went to bat. With the excellent bowling of Aaron Muslar and Brandon Lewis, who took 4 wickets each, the army could only muster 129, a difference of 120. That inning went like this: 1 for 35; 2 for 48; 3 for 48; 4 for 57; 5 for 69; 6 for 69; 7 for 73; 8 for 111; 9 for 123; all for 129. Herman Gordon scored 37.
And that proved my point correctly, when I stated that the Wicked boys knew how to defend on their turf.
The inning when Wicked 11 was at bat, they earned 32 extra runs by “wides” or no-balls from BDF bowlers. BDF gained 9 off Wicked 11 bowlers.
The game that will definitely see the winner of the first place trophy will be played at Lords Bank on Saturday, August 31. So, until then, folks, thanks for reading; and continue to be professional at all times. Best wishes for both teams.
See ya! Bye bye! Respect to and for all.