Brilliant batting hands Excelsior Urban T20 title
Published:Saturday | April 20, 2024 | 12:09 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
EXCELSIOR WERE crowned urban area T20 champions yesterday after a dominant 181-run victory over Kingston College (KC) at the Melbourne Oval.
Excelsior racked up a mammoth 244/5 from their 20 overs before bowling out a shell-shocked KC for just 63 in 14.4 overs.
After winning the toss and opting to bat, Excelsior’s hit an early pothole when they lost influential opener David Dewar without scoring with just the second delivery of the game.
Dewar was outsmarted by Chadwick Wallace, going caught at mid-on by Gianna Tapper. Despite the early setback, the pair of Demarco Scott and Keymarie Daley made sure the innings lost no momentum, putting on a 77-run partnership.
Excelsior benefited from misfields and dropped catches as opener Justin Adlam helped himself to a well-played 86. He was assisted by elegant stroke maker Scott, who was left unbeaten on 61 not out. In the dying embers of the innings, skipper Michael Clarke’s 43 from just 16 deliveries assisted his team to post a target which proved well out of reach.
Excelsior leg-spinner Tamarie Redwood then turned chief destroyer, bagging 4/9 from four overs to leave the KC innings in tatters.
To go with his well-played 61, Scott chipped in with the ball to bag 2/5 from his four overs en route to helping the Excelsior team to an easy 181-run victory.
Kirkland Bailey, head coach of Excelsior, said his team’s total was always going to be challenging for KC.
“Scoring 200-plus runs along with the bowling that we have, we knew that it would have been too much for Kingston College and it proved to be that way. I expected the boys to do well, as the batting was starting to click at the right time. The bowling was always there and from that happens, we would have always found ourselves with a chance at the end,” he said.
Shane Brooks, head coach of KC, said he was beaten by a good team.
“We were beaten by a very good team, who played well and they are the deserving winners. Their total was a mammoth one and to ask any schoolboy team to get that would be a challenge. We thought we were in with a chance, but we got off to a poor start and everything went downhill from there,” said Brooks.
In the day’s earlier encounter, St Catherine secured third-place as they defeated St George’s College by 57 runs.
Scores in that game: St. Catherine 144/9 (20 overs); St George’s College 82/6 (20 overs).