Sea Breeze Oval (Bailey’s Bay won toss): St George’s beat Bailey’s Bay by 68 runs

Champions St George’s strengthened their hold on first place in the Athene T20 Premier Division after comfortably beating Bailey’s Bay in a top-of-the-table clash between the last two unbeaten sides.

Opener Allan Douglas Jr was the hero, blasting nine sixes and four fours in his innings of 78 off a mere 28 balls, as St George’s posted an imposing 182 for six against a Bay side who were handicapped by the absence of strike bowlers Macquille Walker and Jordan Burgess.

Bay were restricted to 114 for nine in reply.

Terryn Fray, the Bay captain, was also impressive at the top of their batting order, hitting four sixes and eight fours in his knock of 73 which kept Bay’s hopes of victory alive.

However, those hopes started to fade as Fray lost three partners in the space of seven runs in the middle order, as they slipped from 83 for three in the eleventh over to 90 for six.

Medium-pacer Jabari Darrell was responsible for the slump, removing Chris Colby and Shaquille Outerbridge for the fifth and sixth wickets before Kyle Hodsoll was brilliantly run out by Zeko Burgess’s throw from deep mid-wicket to wicketkeeper Sinclair Smith.

Fray, who played the shot, rejected the second run as Hodsoll was caught halfway down the crease.

Fray was then next out in the fifteenth over, caught in the covers by Macai Simmons when he skied a drive off the bowling of Darrell. His top knock held the innings together, with no other Bay batter reaching double figures.

Earlier, Treadwell Gibbons Jr held two important catches at mid-off and long-off — the second a good catch low to the ground — to remove Coolidge Durham for one and Stephen Outerbridge for four in sixth and eighth overs with only 59 on the board.

St George’s bowled out their 20 overs to secure victory just a few minutes before the rain came, even having the luxury of allowing wicketkeeper Smith to take off the gloves and pads to bowl the final over.

Darrell was the pick of the St George’s bowlers with three for 15 from his four overs, while Jonté Smith took two for 13. Zeko Burgess gave up just seven runs in his three overs, taking one wicket after starting the damage by bowling opener Sharye Tavares for eight in the fourth over. Tavares and Fray put on 26 for the first wicket.

Douglas’s knock, which came on the heels of his 58 against Western Stars the day before, laid the foundation for a big St George’s score after he and Simmons put on 31 for the first wicket in just three overs.

Despite losing their second and third wickets on 51 and 52, St George’s were still scoring at ten an over as they put up the 100 by the end of the tenth over.

Douglas was out the next over, caught in the covers by Kyle Hodsoll off Tavares with the score 114 for five. The boundaries did not come as regularly after that, despite 39 being added in the next four overs.

A seventh-wicket stand of 47 between Jonté Smith and Nzari Paynter ensured that St George’s set a steep target for Bay, with 19 coming off the last over from Sancho Jackson — Smith hitting two sixes to finish 37 not out. Paynter finished 16 not out.

Spinner Tavares claimed three for 22 and D’Nyi Thomas two for 23. It was a punishing day for the Bay bowlers, with Jackson giving up 58 runs and Durham 42 as St George’s hit 13 sixes and seven fours.