SVG sweep as double champions in  Windwards cricket
Sports
December 20, 2013
SVG sweep as double champions in Windwards cricket

After retaining the Winlott Inc Windwards Islands Twenty/20 cricket competition, St Vincent and the Grenadines added the two-day format to the list, when the 2013 four- island tournament concluded in Grenada last Monday.{{more}}

And, as was the case in the Twenty/20 format, St Vincent and the Grenadines had to overcome Grenada in their last outing to trump the title.

Miles Bascombe 61, Rommel Currency 52, Alston Bobb 32 and Donwell Hector 29, pushed St Vincent and the Grenadines to 233 all out, batting first.

Grenada’s bowling was led by Denis George who grabbed 6 for 73 and Rudolph Paul 2 for 18.

The host, playing without their influential Devon Smith, who was mourning the death of his one-year-old son, managed 147 in response. Keone George was the lead batsman with 32; Dennis Smith struck 29 and Nicosi St Hillaire 26.

Delorn Johnson, 4 for 25 and Kenneth Dembar, 4 for 50, shared the bulk of the wickets for the Vincentian bowlers. Batting a second time and the title assured, Salvan Browne helped himself to 60 not out and Donwell Hector, 50 not out, as St Vincent and the Grenadines closed at 123 for 1.

The Vincentians had also taken first innings honours from St Lucia in the second round of matches.

St Lucia scored 165, with Keddy Lesporis scoring 52, Garey Mathurin 27 and Taryck Gabriel 26.

Alston Bobb bagged 5 for 27 and Kenroy Peters, 3 for 30.

In response, St Vincent and the Grenadines made 195; Bobb was 34 not out, Sunil Ambris 33, Hector 31, Currency 28 and Johnson 25.

Bowling for St Lucia, Garey Mathurin took 4 for 42; Xavier Gabriel got 2 for 39 and Alex Antoine 2 for 77.

Batting in their second innings, St Lucia closed at 147 for 3; Denis Louis made 61 not out, as Bobb took 2 for 34.

The Vincentians, like the others in the competition, had to dodge the rain, and had their opening fixture versus Dominica, restricted to one day only, with no result.

St Vincent and the Grenadines declared at 173 for 6, with Sunil Ambris hitting 73.

Mervyn Matthew took 3 for 23 and Vivian Titre 2 for 16.

Dominica closed at 66 without loss; Tyrone Theophile and Jerlani Robinson both were 33 not out.

St Vincent and the Grenadines finished on 16 points to put their fourth lien on the competition in five years.

The Vincentians recorded back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010, then a three-day format and completed the hat-trick in 2011, when it was changed to a two-day competition.

Dominica finished the 2013 competition in second place, resulting from two no decisions against St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada and their first innings triumph over St Lucia.

Grenada docked in third, with a first innings win over St Lucia, their no decision against Dominica and their loss on first innings against St Vincent and the Grenadines.

St Lucia, who won the competition in 2012, ended at the bottom, losing all three matches on first innings.

The 2014 competition is set for St Lucia.(RT)