Forties aim for three straight wins
Surprise Commercial Cricket League leaders Forties will aim to make it three wins in a row when they take on Ernst & Young at T.N. Tatem Middle School in Warwick tomorrow.
After an indifferent start to the season - they narrowly lost to North Village in the season-opening Memorial Trophy match and also failed to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup - Forties have claimed the important scalps of Hamilton Parish and Village in the first two rounds of league matches.
Western Stars have withdrawn, leaving eight teams.
Jamaican Association and BC Allrounders also have 100 per cent records with a victory apiece after three of the first eight matches were postponed.
The Jamaicans crushed Caribbean rivals Spring Garden Cavaliers by 94 runs at Southampton Oval where the Cavaliers were routed by pace bowler David Gibbs, who claimed five for 42 from 11 overs. The Jamaicans' 35-over total of 242 was boosted by a massive 71 extras.
Jamaican policeman Steve Diamond was the pick of the Cavaliers' attack with four for 64 from 10 overs while Richard Foulds took three for 42 and also top scored with 47 in Cavaliers' 148.
BC Allrounders claimed a 26-run victory over St. David's in a high-scoring match at Garrison Field thanks to opening bowler Clinton Outerbridge's six for 44 from 12 overs.
Dano Outerbridge (73) and Worrell Bean (53) helped BC Allrounders rattle up 249 for six from their 42 overs but St. David's made a spirited reply led by Aaron Crockwell (60) and Jahson Smith, who followed up his three for 45 by making 50.
Forties' win over Parish came with a ball to spare in a match reduced to 30 overs a side. Gerald Bean (48), Harold Minors (41) and an unbeaten 41 by skipper Gordon Cambell helped Forties, who scored nine runs of the final over, reach 174 for seven.
Sixty-year-old opener Bean and Yatin Gawas paved the way for Forties' crushing 113-run victory over Village. Gawas hammered 71 from 44 balls, including five sixes, while Bean matched his age with 60 from 78 balls as Forties declared on 245 for seven in 40 overs before bundling out Village for 132 in the 35th over, Rudy Smith at No. 7 hitting 62 from 54 balls for the losers, who had opened their league programme with victory over Ernst & Young.
Ernst & Young clinched a League Cup semi-final spot after beating Forties and Village in a 12-overs-a-side mini play-off after all three won a match apiece while Jamaican Association and BC Allrounders will meet in a 10-overs-a-side play-off because of a dispute over totals in their round-robin match. Hamilton Parish and Spring Garden Cavaliers won their respective groups ahead of the semi-finals to be played next month.