The quarter final of the Kingston Wharves U15 Cricket Competition produced the top four teams that will compete in the semi finals on Thursday and Friday respectively. Defending champion St. Mary, former champion Manchester and aspiring champions Kensington and Kingston will battle for the top spot in this year’s competition. All the quarter final matches were played on Monday.
St. Mary defeated St. James by 79 runs at Boscobel Cricket Ground to seal its place in the semi final. St. Mary won the toss and decided to take first strike. They made 172 all out on the back of Tyson Gordon 79, Robama Smith 15 and a healthy contribution of 58 extras. The bulk of the wickets went to Jaden Williams three for 42, Kemar Parker two for 23 and Damien Daley two for 31.
St. James who was making their first ever entry into the quarter final of the competition put on a valiant show to score 93 all out. Extras featured prominently on their score card, providing the highest score of 30 runs, followed by Jayden Williams 28 and Sanjay Williams 14. The main wicket takers were Tedian Noyan three for 21, Tyson Gordon three for 23 and Dijon Taylor two for six runs.
Manchester got the better of Westmoreland by 103 runs after batting first and making 137 for three declared. Two batsmen, Pajay Nelson 68 and Tesfah Ward 44 were responsible for the good showing with the bat. The only bowler to take a wicket was Ajani Reid who took one for 47 in 10 overs. The other two wickets went by way of run out.
Westmoreland were skittled out for 34 in 25.2 overs. Extras of 15 runs played a big role in their inning as Romareo Salmon 11 was the only batsman to get into double figures. Three bowlers shared the wickets three-a-piece. Kevaughn Flemmings – three for four runs, Demario Hall bagged three for six runs and Jadeh Moore got three for 16 runs. The match was played at Manchester High School.
Kensington devoured St. Catherine CC at Kensington Park by 116 runs. St. Catherine CC won the toss and invited Kensington to bat first. They made 182 all out in 43.4 overs with captain Savio Jones top scoring with the bat after getting 54 runs while extras provided 43 valuable runs. Javar Williams three for 23, J. Frater three for 26 and Joel Williams three for 47 were the main wicket takers.
St. Catherine CC in reply could only muster 66 for six wickets in 24 overs to complete their inning. Three batsmen got into double figures, namely W. Palmer, 17, D. Hyatt 16 and Mickel Francis 14. Z. Buchanan bagged two for 23 and A. Lloyd also got two for 30 runs.
Kingston over powered Melbourne at their home ground (Melbourne Cricket Club) for the final semi final spot after defeating them by two wickets. Melbourne won the toss and batted but were skittled out for 58 in 19.5 overs. Abraham Richards 15 was the main run getter with extras of 17 providing some well needed runs. Geovanni Gray got a fiver of five for 14 while Tahadai Gray bagged two for three runs.
Kingston replied with 59 for 8 wickets, again extras of 24 being the single most contribution. Tahadai Gray 13 was the only batsman to get into double figures. Mekanell Palmer and Abraham Walsh got three wickets each for four and five runs respectively.
The first semi final match is scheduled for Thursday at Kensington Cricket Club when Kensington will entertain Manchester. The second match will bowl off on Friday across the road at Lucas Cricket Club with St. Mary battling Kingston. Both matches will begin at 10:00 am.