Slow bowler Boobalan Kannan's match-winning four-wicket burst and Trevor Haynes' crucial half-century after a two-month break spurred Spring Garden Cavaliers to a 17-run victory over gallant Ernst & Young as they retained the Commercial Cricket's League's Twenty20 League Cup in an absorbing final at Shelly Bay on Sunday.

Ernst & Young, doing double duty as Cavaliers had the previous week, easily dispatched league champions Forties in the remaining semi-final earlier in the day and then bravely chased Cavaliers' 19.3-over total of 146, in which Palithapushpa Kumara claimed impressive figures of five for 24 from 3.3 overs, but the run out of number three Dhammika Jayalath for 36 proved costly for the accountants, who eventually subsided to 129 all out from 18 overs.

Ernst & Young, who have made great strides this season under skipper Karunakar Kaushik, finishing fourth in the league, have another chance to earn some silverware when they take on North Village in the Knockout final, which has been pushed back to September 20.

Cavaliers, who lost the toss, had Donovan Livingston caught at deep mid-wicket for six but fellow opener Dave Greenidge and skipper Richard Foulds steadied the innings with a second-wicket partnership of 32 before Greenidge unluckily played on for 16 and Foulds was brilliantly caught by Kumara at mid-on for 12.

Worse was to follow for Cavaliers as big-hitting Barry Richards, who smashed an unbeaten 83 the previous week against Jamaican Association, was bowled for one by Sumedha Assalaratchy, who finished with three for 28 from four overs, and Jeff DeSilva was run out for three.

But number four Haynes stood firm, striking four sixes and two fours before he was last out for 62, bowled in the final over by Kumara to complete his five-wicket haul.

Kannan, who opened the bowling, ripped out the top of the accountants' innings with four for 24 from four overs and after Jayalath's dismissal, Richards dismissed skipper Kaushik for ten with his only delivery, twisting an ankle on the edge of the strip and being forced to limp off.

Kumara (21) and Assalaratchy (18) revived the innings but when both fell Cavaliers quickly regained control.

"After losing yet another toss, and in the knowledge that they have some very capable hitters in their batting line-up, we were well aware of the need to score quickly," said Cavaliers' skipper Foulds.

"We had a long batting line-up, so I wasn't particularly worried when we started to lose a few wickets, but we needed an anchor, and on this occasion Trevor Haynes provided it with an excellently paced innings, combining good running between the wickets with powerful drives and pulls when the opportunity arose.

"It was particularly important as only two other batsmen, Dave Greenidge and myself, managed a double-figure score, and when you take into account that Trevor has not played in two months, this adds up to a great effort on his part.

"Ernst & Young did bowl good lines and fielded well, so I was reasonably pleased with our total.

"When we took the field I predicted that their batsmen would try to hit the ball over the top from the first over, and so opened with Boobalan's off-breaks. The theory was that the slower pace and turn would make timing the ball more difficult, and so it proved, as he took the wickets of four of their top five batsmen whilst only conceding two boundaries," added Foulds, who named Kannan as his man of the match.

"Two other wickets went to slow bowlers. Barry Richards and Jeff DeSilva also took the pace off the ball and induced errors from their batsmen, with wicketkeeper Alan Boyce taking three catches from mistimed top-edges.

"With wickets coming steadily we ensured that Ernst & Young never caught up with the required run-rate, and despite a few well-struck boundaries they never looked like creating a partnership which could swing the game in their favour.

"What I found particularly pleasing was that their highest partnership was 23, and that was for the sixth wicket. I've always said that partnerships win Twenty20 matches, because with batsmen set, runs can come very quickly. This did not happen on Sunday, and I think that was the reason we won."

Added Foulds: "It has been a very enjoyable and competitive season in the Commercial League and cups, and once again the fact that the league title and each of the knockout cups have and will be won by different teams shows how competitive this league is."

Ernst & Young's skipper Kaushik, putting a brave face on defeat, said:"The team had to play two matches in a row which was definitely demanding and it was great that our team gave a good fight till the end.

"Every team member did contribute in one or the other way and made their presence felt which eventually led Spring Garden Cavaliers to comment that we were the 'most improved team of the season'.

"Having played in this league has been fun and we have enjoyed the season so far. Our improvement graph has been up this year and I am positive that it will continue to be so.

"It is better to aim for the sky as even if you fall, you are still above the rest. I am glad we finished as runners-up in the process. On behalf of the Ernst & Young cricket team, I congratulate Spring Garden on their splendid success in the Twenty20 final."

Looking ahead, he said: "I can already see the fire in the belly of the team members and I am positive that we will do well in the Knockout Cup final."

Jayalath was Ernst & Young's semi-final hero with an unbeaten 67 from 46 balls, including five fixes and two fours, that helped his young side clinch a six-wicket victory over ageing Forties.

Ernst & Young restricted Forties to 118 for eight, despite dropping a hatful of catches, including four in the space of seven balls, before coasting to 120 for four with15 balls to spare after a slow start.

Kaushik made an unbeaten 20 from eight balls.

Damion Henderson, who helped put on 50 with skipper Gordon Campbell for the first wicket, topscored for Forties, who lost the toss, with two sixes and a four in his 29 while Harold Minors and veteran Clevie Smith each made 16.

Chatura Abesooriya was the pick of the Ernst & Young attack with three for 20 from four while Anton Thushar took two for six from two overs and Jayalath two for 31 from four.

Opening bowler Hoyt Zuill was Forties' best bowler with two for 11 from four, Smith snapping up two slip catches with the same aplomb he showed 20 years ago.

"We knew our score was not good enough but we thought we had a sniff when we had them 68 for four after 13," said skipper Campbell.

"Dhammika and KK (Kaushik) just took it away from us with some excellent hitting, aided by all of our bowlers, except Hoyt, overpitching too much.

"Congratulations to Cavaliers on their Twenty20 victory."