Kingston CC end 23-year Senior Cup drought

It has been well over two decades since Kingston Cricket Club placed their hands on the Jamaica Cricket Association Senior Cup, but yesterday, they broke that drought after securing first-innings honours in their drawn final against the Jamaica Defence Force at Sabina Park.

Resuming the day on 58 for four and still needing 193 runs to overhaul Kingston’s first-innings total of 251, the army men could only manage to get to 185, with overnight batman Andre Fowler adding 21 runs to his overnight 22 to be the innings top scorer.

Gordon Bryan, who was 11 not out overnight, went on to score 26 while Dennis Bulli was left not out on 24 with Sheldon Cottrell batting, at number 11, scoring 23.

Seamer Andre Bailey was the pick of the bowlers after bagging three wickets for 41 runs while Odean Smith also finished with three for 43.

With a 66-run lead on first innings, the Kingston ‘Tigers’ knew that they only had to bat out the remainder of the final day to secure the title, and they did just that reaching 219 for eight when the game was called off late in the day.

Once again, West Indies batsman Kirk McKenzie led the resistance after top-scoring with 84, which came off 114 balls while hitting 10 fours and four sixes.

West Indies player Smith helped himself to 45 towards the back end with seven fours and two sixes while Brad Barnes chipped in with 39.

National fast bowler Gordon Bryan led the fight for the army men after picking up five for 28 while West Indies pacer Cottrell snared two for 35.

Winning captain Akim Fraser was over the moon that his team was able to break such a lengthy drought.

“I am elated for this title, and we spoke about winning the trophy for our coach, Terrence Corke, who has won the Senior Cup many times as a player but had never won as a coach, so we came out as a unit and pulled off the victory,” the Kingston CC captain said.

Fraser said the all-around effort did the trick, which capped off a remarkable season for the Tigers.

“Kirk McKenzie was the stand-out batter for us, but Brad Barnes also did well with the bat, and Andre Bailey and Odean Smith came up big with the ball, which contributed to the success,” added Fraser.