By Dean “The Sportsman” Greenaway
Grenada after beating Cavaliers by six runs
Grenada fought off perennial BVI Cricket Association T-20 League champs Cavaliers, to celebrate its country’s independence weekend, with an electrifying 6-run victory in Greenland on Sunday.
Captain Derrol Redhead caught fire for an unbeaten 118 not out—the most runs in the league thus far—including 11 maximums and eight boundaries from 54 balls, laying the base for their 187 for 8. Ragel Noel had a contributing 22 with Dave Johnson and opener Andel Walcott, adding a supporting 14 runs respectively.
Cavaliers Aviskar Sewkarran bagged 3 for 10 and Vishal Bharat, 2 for 24.
Sewkarran and Aaron Baker put Cavaliers ahead with their 86-run opening partnership, during which Sewkarran had 54 of his 55 runs from 29 balls, before he was caught and bowled by Jamal Sergant.
Jagnarine “Suga” Persaud came in and had a steady 48, but lacked support. Despite Grenada giving up 30 extras including 20 wides and dropping catches, they slowed the Cavaliers’ drive with an 8 for 32 haul after they were 94 for 2, before being bowling them out for 181. Noel snatched 3 for 43 and Rodney Marryshow, 2 for 41.
“It’s a really not just important, but a very enjoyable victory for us,” said Redhead, who was Man of the Match. “We’ve been struggling over the years and everyone can see that and to come back in the tournament and defeat Cavaliers—one of the top teams in the tournament—is really a good feeling. It’s always nail biting. The batsman tense, the fielders tense, so to come out on top, feels really good.”
Cavaliers Captain Jeeyan Dianarine said they thought they could have chased down the 187 that Grenada posted and they had a great opening start with 86, then things started going awry.
“Grenada kept coming and taking steady wickets and at the end of it, we fell short by six runs,” he noted. “We’re a bit disappointed but we have the talent and the ability and we’ll certainly bounce back from this loss. At the end of the day, we only have ourselves to blame. Opportunities were given to us and we never capitalized on them.”
Redhead said the dropped catches set them back and brought the Cavaliers back into the game. “They should have capitalized, but they didn’t, so we appreciated that,” he said, noting that his 118 runs were important. “As long as we’re batting first, it’s my duty to put enough runs on the board.”
Dianarine said Redhead batted smartly throughout the innings. “He attacked at times, he turned over the strike at times and it worked for him today,” he said.
In the other game, after forfeiting their opener, Vincy used five batsmen with 19 or more runs, capped by Feris Pope’s 40, to overcome the Combined V.I. Renegades Nash Fredericks’ 76 after they were 2 for 4, to win by two wickets.
Combined V.I. Renegades bowled out for 176 and Vincy replied with 181. Vincy’s Earl Prescott bagged 4 for 32, while Otis James and Cenrick Martin, snatched 2 for 20 and 2 for 38 respectively. Combined V.I. Renegades bowlers Sammy Jones took 2 for 21 and Kesley Roberts, 2 for 60.
