Reigning champions Central Sports crashed to their second straight loss at the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB)/Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) T20 Cricket Festival when they went under to rivals Bess Motors Marchin Patriots at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair, Port-of-Spain on Saturday.
West Indies opener Evin Lewis scored a blitz at the top of the order, producing 41 from 23 that included three maximums at the Tragarete Road venue.
Marchin Patriots got an opening stand of 29 from just three overs after they were put in to bat first on a pitch with live green grass on the surface that assisted the fast bowlers.
Openers Kadeem Alleyne and Lewis were separated when Amari Goodridge’s delivery was a bit too fast for Alleyne (11) and skied a flash shot that Derone Davis got under to catch inside the 30-yard circle.
That wicket opened up a 67-run partnership between Lewis and Crystian Thurton (33) as they threatened to put the match out of reach for the champions. Their partnership spanned five overs and four balls and ended when Lewis was caught on the boundary by Mikkel Govia at 96 for two.
Sameer Ali got the wicket of Thurton with help from Jabari Mills, who caught Thurton with the score at 120 in the 13th over.
Rajeev Ramnath scored 46 from 34 balls and held the bottom half of the innings together despite the wickets falling around him consistently.
The Patriots were bowled out for 172 in 19.5 overs.
Central Sports' reply started miserably and was reduced to seven for two when openers Jeremiah Cruickshank (5) and Leonardo Julien (0) were already back in the pavilion. They then pinned their hopes on aggressive Barbados all-rounder Roshon Primus, known for his ability to change any game, but hopes of a comeback were dashed when he was trapped Leg before wicket to Alleyne for a duck to leave the champion reeling at eight for three.
Mills (12) and Davis (34) then gave the League leaders a measure of hope with a 46-run partnership, but with the overs ticking away, it became increasingly difficult. It forced the batsmen to bat with urgency and take risks.
The Marchin bowlers, Giovante Depeiza, in particular, took advantage of that and reduced Central Sports from 67 for 5 to 101 all out, with Depeiza claiming four wickets for 16 runs to hand Marchin Patriots, the 2024 Sunday League champions, their first win in terms of T20.
Central Sports must now win their remaining Group A matches against Preysal and Queen's Park Cricket Club huge enough to have a positive net run rate, and hope other matches go in their favour.
In the first match in the double-header on Saturday, Sachin Seecheran scored 45 and Matthew Patrick took 4-13 to lead Preysal to an 18-run win over Yorkshire for its first win of the tournament.
Summarised scores
Preysal 161/7 (20 overs) (Sachin Seecharan 45, Aaron Bankay 39; Devon Lord 2-28) vs Yorkshire 143 all out (19.1 overs) (Ziggy Levy 51, Matthew Patrick 4-13; Justyn Gangoo 3-20). Preysal won by 18 runs.
Marchin Patriots 172 all out (19.5 overs) (Rajeev Ramnath 46, Evin Lewis 41; Darone Davis 3-25) vs Central Sports 101 all out (19.1 overs) (Darone Davis 34, Giovante Depeiza 4-16). Marchin Patriots won by 71 runs
