Wellington Oval (St George’s won toss): St. George’s beat Warwick Workmen’s by 26 runs

St George’s had their bowlers to thank for finishing runners-up in the Bermuda Cricket Board 50 Overs Premier Division after their triumph over Warwick Workmen’s.

The win means St. George’s, who finished fourth in this format last season, end the season only behind Bailey’s, Bay who were crowned champions on Saturday.

Warwick were relegated after finishing second from bottom with no win and went into this match without all-rounder Kwasi James who was handed a two-match suspension for vehemently disputing decisions.

St George’s felt they had not done well enough when scoring 149 all out in 33.4 overs after choosing to bat first when winning the toss.

Openers Temiko Wilson and Nzari Paynter had given St George’s a perfect foundation with a 51-run partnership. Wilson top scored with a patient 38 from 66 balls with his partner at the top of the batting order next best with 26 off 44 balls.

However, when those two departed, the remaining batsmen were unable to find any rhythm as slow medium pace bowler Sergio Raynor pegged St. George’s back. He ended with five wickets for 24 runs in 7.4 overs and was backed by fellow seamer Luke Fulton who took four for 45.

Warwick were presented with a perfect opportunity to pick up their only win of the season with the required run-rate just three runs per over, but they were in trouble from the start.

By the seventh over, the men in red and white were five down with just 17 runs to their credit after some good bowling by Zeko Burgess and fine fielding from his team-mates to produce a couple of run-outs.

Malachi Jones brought Warwick back into the contest with some elegant strokes on his way to a half-century. His 69-run stand for the fifth wicket with skipper Cory Burgess brought down the required run-rate to under two runs per over.

Jones departed for a well-played 60, from 43 balls, and even at that stage Warwick were still in with a chance to win as they needed 68 runs from 198 deliveries.

However, Charles Trott took away whatever hopes Warwick had of victory with two quick wickets in one over. Burgess and Trott finished with three wickets each.

Despite the win, St George’s coach Clay Smith was not too pleased with his side’s batting display.

“I was quite disappointed with my team’s batting performance under the circumstances,” Smith said.

“We had a very good start and the middle order just collapsed and fell out, so we were very fortunate to still come away with 149.

“When my players went out there, I told them they need to show their fans some character and make sure that we finish second in the league so, I do applaud my boys for fighting hard and fighting right till the end. At the end of the day I was happy with the result but not the performance.”

The only loss for St. George’s came against Bailey’s Bay, who beat them by two wickets, while their fixture against Cleveland was called off because of the rain, and Smith decried the one-round format for the competition.

“It’s very tough when you are playing one round because it limits you,” Smith said.

“You can’t really afford to lose anything and we had a tough loss down here against Bay in a game that could have went either way, which obviously decided the title.”

Smith also brought up the issue of missing captain Onias Bascome for most of their games with to a shoulder problem while the coach’s son Jonté did not feature at all because of a knee injury.

For Michael Stovel, the Warwick team manager, playing in the Premier Division has come with lessons for his team.

“The season has been a bit up and down,” Stovel said. “In every match besides the Cleveland match, we've actually been there with our bowling but our batting has let us down.

“Most games, like today, we needed 20-odd off 23 overs, and I guess we just didn't apply ourselves to the fullest.

“Our expectation was to survive. We have the talent in batting and bowling but when it came to the batting, we just didn't apply ourselves. So, lesson learnt and we had a new 50 overs captain in Cory Burgess. We are pleased with him and pretty much pleased with everyone’s performance.”

With the 50-over knockout competition coming up, Stovell feels his team will be strengthened by the return of three players, which should result in plenty of firepower going into the T20 season.