Wellington Oval (St George’s won toss): St George’s beat Warwick by seven wickets

St George’s blasted 114 off just 9.1 overs to secure a convincing victory over Warwick in the Athene T20 League Premier Division yesterday, boosting their run rate in the process.

Allan Douglas hit 41 off just 15 balls with five sixes and two fours as last season’s champions started with a bang in pursuit of Warwick’s 110 for nine.

Douglas and Macai Simmons (24) put on 70 for the first wicket in just five overs, Douglas leading the charge with a flurry of boundaries before the excitement was interrupted briefly with Simmons trapped lbw by Malachi Jones.

The pair departed in successive overs, with Douglas out next over when second-change Jamar Stovel bowled Douglas after being hit for a couple of boundaries earlier in the over.

That made it 76 for two, but St George’s were quickly back in top gear with captain Onias Bascome hitting a brisk 21 before he was third out on 107.

Veterans Temiko Wilson and Treadwell Gibbons got St George’s over the line with more than half their overs still unused.

“We were missing a few players today but fortunately for us we have a deep squad this year with a couple of youngsters coming in and doing a very good job for us,” said coach Clay Smith.

St George’s were without Rodney Trott and Zeko Burgess, two key all-rounders, but in the end other players stepped up, including Shakai Darrell, who took the new ball with Jabari Darrell and claimed two for 16 off his four overs.

Warwick, who posted a challenging 169 against Southampton Rangers last weekend thanks to a century from Jones. However, he went cheaply yesterday, bowled in the sixth over as he attempted to drive Shakai Darrell off the back foot.

Jones was the second wicket to fall when the score was 29, with captain Stephan Dill departing six runs later as Darrell picked up his second wicket during a good spell.

Kyle Swan led the Warwick batting with 31 from 22 balls with three fours and a six after coming in at No 3.

Jamar Stovel scored 17 in the middle order before he was stumped off the bowling of Jonte Smith.

Allan Douglas picked up three for 18 off four overs to lead the St George’s bowling, while Smith claimed two for 15 and Shakai Darrell two for 16. Temiko Wilson took an outstanding diving catch low to the ground at mid-wicket to dismiss Ajani Lee off Douglas’s bowling.

“Shakai Darrell has been bowling exceptionally well, he’s probably been the surprise bowler for us this year,” coach Smith said.

Smith praised Douglas for his batting at the top of the order, setting the pace for the comfortable win.

“Allan has been doing that for the last two years in the T20,” he said. “We didn’t want to get reckless but at the same time we wanted to capitalise and get our net run rate as high as it can go. There are two rounds and this is only our second game so there is a lot of cricket left to play.

“We respect the division, everybody on their day is capable of putting in a good performance. It’s about going out there and getting the win.

“I went and watched Warwick play last week against Rangers at PHC, and if they had gotten Dion [Stovell] early they could have been in with a shout to win.

“They are no pushovers and everybody in this division you have to respect because on their day they can upset you.”

Warwick

M Jones b S Darrell 6

J Butterfield c Bascome b J Darrell 8

K Swan lbw b Douglas 31

*S Dill c and b S Darrell 4

C Burgess c Cannonier b Douglas 14

†A Lee c Wilson b Douglas 5

J Stovel st S Smith b J Smith 17

K Butterfield run out 14

J Maroni b J Smith 0

L Horan not out 3

O DeShields not out 0

Extras (7w, 1nb) 8

Total (9 wkts; 20 overs) 110

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-29, 3-35, 4-56, 5-67, 6-73, 7-98, 8-98, 9-108

Bowling: J Darrell 4-0-29-1; S Darrell 4-0-16-2; J Smith 4-0-15-2; A Douglas 4-0-18-3; O Bascome 4-0-32-0.

St George’s

A Douglas c Jones b Stovel 41

M Simmons lbw b Jones 24

T Wilson not out 8

*O Bascome c Maroni b Horan 21

T Gibbons not out 6

Extras (1lb, 12w, 1nb) 14

Total (3 wkts; 9.1 overs) 114

A Cannonier, J Darrell, J Smith, †S Smith, S Darrell and B Swainson did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-70, 2-76, 3-107.

Bowling: M Jones 4-0-27-1; S Dill 1-0-27-0; c Burgess 1-0-22-0; J Stovel 2.1-0-33-1; L Horan 1-0-4-1.

Umpires: M McCormack, S Caines

Match referee: J McKirdy