CATEGORY:SPORTS
--------------------

By Trevor Thwaites (St. George's correspondent)



ST.GEORGE's, Grenada: The honours were just about even after a two-match 20-20 series between regional cricket powerhouse Barbados and Grenada in Barbados last weekend. After romping to a comfortable victory in the opening game, Barbados were on the receiving end in the second encounter. The hosts posted a challenging 211 for 7 in the opening fixture at Carlton Ground in Black Rock St Michael.

Former West Indies middle order batsman Floyd Reifer led the way with a blistering 54 and there were also good knocks from Martin Nurse 50 and unbeaten scores of 30 and 25 from Kenroy Williams and Carlo Morris respectively. Skipper Rawle Lewis bagged 2 for 49 and Troy Baptiste 2 for 35. Grenada in reply could only muster 111 for 9 in their allotment. Only Clyde Telesford 22, Marlon Henry 15 and Lewis got into doubles figures.

There were two wickets each for Suleiman Benn, Antonio Mayers and Sherma Brooks. However, Grenada rebounded strongly in the second game to beat Barbados on a faster run rate under the Duckworth Lewis rule. The local team posted a respectable 139 for 6 in the fixture reduced to a 15-over affair because of rain. The innings was built around impressive knocks from veteran Clevroy Antoine, who slammed 32 from 22 balls with two sixes and two fours opening the innings and John Sylvester 27 from 17 deliveries with
one four and two sixes.

Skipper Rawle Lewis also chipped in with 24 from 22 balls including three fours and Clyde Telesford 20 from 10 deliveries including two sixes and a four. There were two wickets a piece for Suleiman Benn, which cost 23 runs from 2 overs, Kenroy Williams, who was struck for 31 from two overs Martin Nurse, who conceded 7 from his lone over. West Indies all rounder Dwayne Smith had figures of one for 23 from three overs. Barbados in reply were 71 for 5 after nine overs when the game ended prematurely because of rain, to give Grenada victory on a faster run rate.

However in a third fixture against a Barbados University XI, Grenada lost by three wickets in an exciting contest. The national team was dismissed for 100 and the University replied with 101 for 7 in 19.4 overs. They needed 7 runs in the final over. Coach Raymond Duncan told Spice Isle Review that it was a learning experience in Barbados. “We are now in a better position to gauge her preparation for the tournament. We have identified some weaknesses that will be addressed,” he said.

A 20-man team is in training for the competition, which bowls off on Tuesday July 11th with two matches. St Maarten meets the Unites States Virgin Islands in the opening fixture from three o’clock in the afternoon, while the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands clash in the other fixture four hours later from seven o’clock at the Sticky Cricket Ground in St John’s Antigua. The local team starts its campaign on Friday July 14th with a game against Dominica.

A 13-man national team is in St John’s, after leaving on Saturday, for the official opening ceremony on Sunday in St John’s. 19 regional teams including some of the more established countries such as Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, which are seeded because of their status in regional cricket, are vying for the attractive price of US$1 million, along with the smaller territories like St Maarten, the USVI, the Cayman Islands and Montserrat are competing in the inaugural, which has the promotion and development of the game as one of its primary objectives.




Your views or comments on this article can be sent to grenadianconnection@gmail.com