Botanical Gardens Rangers top points table in VPL

Fort Charlotte Strikers and La Soufriere Hikers remained rooted to the bottom of the points table without a win after three days of action in the fourth edition of the VPL cricket tournament, currently underway at the Arnos Vale Cricket Ground.

The physio holding the injured right hand of
Preston McSween (right)

On Monday March 21, 2022 in game five, Strikers won the toss and chose to bowl in their match against Salt Pond Breakers who totalled 123 for 7 in their allotted 10 overs. Beniton Stapleton top-scored with 28, Kadeem Alleyne made 22, and Ryan John 16. Javid Harry took two for 22, Joshua James two for 28, Rasheed Fredericks one for 15, and Kirton Lavia one for 29 bowling for Strikers.

Meanwhile Preston McSween suffered a broken finger on his right hand when Kadeem Alleyne drove a ball back fiercely. McSween was unable to hold on and sustained an injury in the process and left the field. He returned soon after with his hand in a cast, and will be out of contention for Fort Charlotte Strikers for the remainder of the tournament.

Strikers though started off in fine fashion but lost wickets in the middle overs and thus faced the task of scoring 35 runs from the last two overs. They fell two runs short of their target, Salt Pond Breakers therefore taking their tournament streak to two wins from two games. Strikers reached 121 for 3 off 10 overs; Miles Bascombe 42, Joshua James 24 not out, and Cosmos Hackshaw 17 being the top-scorers. Kenzely Joseph took 2 for 15 and Kadeem Alleyne had 1 for 15 for Breakers.

In the second game of the day, Grenadines Divers won the toss and sent Dark View Explorers in to bat, but their innings never got going as expected.

Their innings crawled to 95 for 4 off 10 overs; Alick Athanaze scoring 39, Romano Pierre 37, and Deron Greaves 7. Bowling for Divers, Wesrick Strough took all 4 wickets for 9 runs.

Joshua James of Salt Pond Breakers is bowled by Alick Athanze

In reply Divers scored 101 for 4 in 8.3 overs to win by six wickets. Skipper, Asif Hooper and Imran Joseph each remained on 30 not out, and Roland Cato scored 19. Bowling for Dark View Explorers, Dean Browne took 2 for 22, and Luke Wilson 1 for 12.

On Sunday, March 20 Alick Athanze, who dominated the powerplay when Fort Charlotte Strikers and Dark View Explorers clashed, recorded the first half-century of the tournament, and the highest individual score to date, 88.

He helped Explorers to reach 116 for 5 from their 10 overs, with Shaman Hooper 3 not out, while Romano Pierre the other opening batsman scored 11. Bowling for Fort Charlotte Strikers, Ray Jordan had 2 for 10, Richie Richards 1 for 7, and Joshua James 1 for 29.

In their turn at the crease, Strikers were restricted to 89 for 8, with Joshua James 32 from 22 deliveries, hitting 3 fours and 2 sixes. Explorers won by 27 runs, with Kirton Lavia remaining on 16 not out and Rasheed Fredericks not yet off the mark. Darius Martin finished with 2 for 7, Luke Wilson 2 for 31, Alick Athanaze 1for 9, and Sealron Williams 1for 15.

In Sunday’s first game, batting first, La Soufriere Hikers totalled 75 for 5 at the end of their 10 overs. Captain, Desron Maloney top-scored with 25, Andrew Thomas remained on 12 not out, and Kaveem Hodge chipped in with 11.  Bowling for Botanical Gardens Rangers, Larry Edwards finished with 2 for 6, Keron Cottoy 1 for 13, and Andre Fletcher 1 for 26.

In reply, Botanical Gardens Rangers scored 77 for 1 in 6.5 overs, winning by 9 wickets. Salvan Browne remained 40 not out, Andre Fletcher made 17, and Wayne Harper chipped in with 13 unbeaten.  Bowling for La Soufriere Hikers, Lewis had the only success with the ball, finishing with 1 for 21.

On Saturday, despite the rain the opening day of the VPL fourth edition was action packed featuring the first two matches. First up was Grenadines Divers taking on Botanical Gardens Rangers, with Rangers winning the toss and electing to field. Divers scored 89 for 4; Hiram Shallow top-scoring with 30 from 28 deliveries. Keron Cottoy was the pick of the bowlers for Rangers with 2 for 10, while Razine Browne finished with 1 for 15.

In reply, Botanical Gardens Rangers chased a revised target of 42 due to the stoppages caused by the rain. The par score after 5 overs was 41 runs, Rangers were just ahead and walked away as winners by nine wickets. Botanical Gardens Rangers 43 for 1 in 5 overs; the revised target was 42 by the Duckworth-Lewis system.

The second game between La Soufriere Hikers and Salt Pond Breakers was affected by rain causing it to be a 7 overs affair. Breakers won the toss and chose to field. Gidron Pope took the ball to task early, hitting Delorn Johnson to long off for six. But Johnson got one back for Hikers getting skipper, Desron Maloney on the fourth delivery of the first over while Pope continued hitting boundaries before rain interrupted play during the second over. Hikers at that stage were 19 for 1 from 1.3 overs. When the rain subsided and play resumed, the game was further reduced to 3 overs. Pope continued to plunder the bowling taking a liking to Kadeem Alleyne who bowled the final over; 25 runs were conceded which included 2 no balls and 3 wides. Hikers finished with the imposing total of 51 for 2 from their 3 over, Pope top-scoring with 40 not out. Johnson finished with figures of 1 for 9 bowling for Breakers.

In their reply Breakers came out with a purpose as Ryan John and Beniton Stapleton put on a show smashing several boundaries. Nineteen runs were scored in their first over at the crease and 24 in the second bowled by Kaveen Hodge.

Kadeem Alleyne, villain with the ball in the first innings hit two sixes to finish the match in fine style. He remained on 19 not out, while Rickford Walker did not trouble the scorers.

Final scores in that match: La Soufriere Hikers 51 for 2 off 3 overs. Salt Pond Breakers 57 for 3 off 2.4 overs, winning by 7 wickets.
Thirty-six sixes were plundered in the four matches played on the opening two days of the fourth edition of the VPL, currently being played at the Arnos Vale playing field . However the total number of sixes hit to date jumped to 65, with 29 sixes being hit in Monday’s two matches.

Each team has played two matches apiece with Botanical Gardens Rangers and Salt Pond Breakers having two wins from their two matches and having four points apiece.

However, Rangers sit on top of the points table due to a superior net run rate of 2.408 over Breakers who occupy second place with a net run rate of 0.98.

Grenadines Divers with one win and one loss occupy the third spot having a net run rate of 1.319, and Dark View Explorers, also with one win and one loss sit fourth having a net run rate of 0.28. These two teams have two points each.