By Dean “The Sportsman” Greenaway
Police beat RTW Falcons for the first time in their history
Led by Man of the Match Yohann Lezama, Police stymied the RTW Falcons’ charge for a thrilling and historic 22-run first ever victory over their rivals, in the BVI Cricket Association T20 League play in Greenland on Sunday.
Lezama sprayed the field for 10-boundaries during an opening 99-run partnership, hitting 56 with Captain Collis Fraser, who went for 29, after they were sent to bat. Lezama was caught for 66 by Austin McDowall, one of Joel Williams’ 3 for 29 haul. With the openers gone, the batting went limp as they could only add another 38 runs for the loss of 8 wickets and ended their innings at 152 for 9. RTW Falcons bowler Roy Caines, took 2 for 14.
Then Lezama went to work and eventually removed stubborn RTW Falcons opener Williams for 41 to end a 57-run partnership with Damron Prince. On his next ball, Lezama bowled hard hitting McDowall—who had earlier caught him—for a duck, when he was caught by Jamal Mickle. Prince built three small partnerships before he went leg before wicket for 38 and the rest of the order collapsed at 130 all out. Lazema bagged 4 for 17 and Jerome Morris, 2 for 32.
“Well, this is a welcomed victory. We started with a good win and we want to continue. This means so much to us,” Fraser told Island Sun Sports as his team improved to 2-0. “It’s the first time we had ever beaten (RTW) Falcons, so that really means a lot to us. It shows that the team is playing good, positive cricket. The bowler’s pitcher the ball in the right area, we took our catches and the bowling was excellent. The Falcons are a strong team, they have a good batting line up, but our bowlers were able to bowl and put the ball in the right area.”
It was the second successive loss for the RTW Falcons. “It’s another collapse. That’s all I can say, another collapse,” RTW Falcons Captain Orlando “Facebook” Ollivierre said. “The openers gave us a good start, but we got another collapse. I think the bowlers did well holding them for 151, but the batsmen didn’t step up. They should feel good (beating us for the first time) and they should be proud of themselves. I’m still processing the thoughts because I can’t really believe we lost that game.”
In the other game, Royal Knights bowlers Ameri Hinds and Julian St. Clair decimated the Vikings batting lineup by grabbing two ducks off the first 12 balls, to send them crashing to 82 all out in 12.5 overs. After he had snatched 4 for 20, Man of the Match Hinds had 22 not out while supporting Caption Keon De Jesus’ 37 not out, as they knocked off the runs in 28 minutes for a nine wickets victory.
