Scarlet Ibis Scorchers did it the hard way but they got their revenge over Soca Kings, winning by five wickets to take the Dream 11 Trinidad T10 Blast title at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, San Fernando, yesterday.
Mikkel Govia was the star of the final with an unbeaten 69 from just 24 balls as the Scorchers reached 120 for 5 and successfully overhauled Soca Kings 119 for 4 when they batted first.
Cephas Cooper scored 20 and Crystian Thurton scored 17 as they also contributed to the win.
Earlier, Dejourn Charles produced an unbeaten 42 and Tion Webster scored 30 as Soca Kings, who had beaten Scarlet Ibis in the first Qualifier on Saturday scored 119 for 4 in their 10 overs.
The Scorchers can thank a 69-run partnership between Govia and Cooper that took them from 18 for one to 87 for two after six overs, leaving them with the simple task of getting 37 runs from 24 balls.
From then on, even with the wickets of Dexter Sween (2), Joshua Ramdoo (1) and Philton Williams (1), Govia was able to help them over the line to claim the title.
When the teams met in Qualifier No 1 on Saturday, Soca Kings, led by the unbeaten centuries of Lendl Simmons (70 not out) and Tion Webster (53 not out) and the earlier bowling of Nicholas Ali (1-15) and Webster (1-16), narrowly defeated the eventual champion by 16 runs.
In Sunday's opening match, Qualifier No 2, Thurton (52), Williams (2-9) and Andrew Rambaran (2-9) starred as the Scorchers beat the Steelpan Players by nine wickets to progress to the title match and won convincingly.
SUMMARISED SCORES:
QUALIFIER NO 2
STEELPAN PLAYERS 67/8 (10 Overs) (James Duncan 21; Philton Williams 2-9; Andrew Rambaran 2-9) vs SCARLET IBIS SCORCHERS 69 /1 (Crystian Thurton 52; Ramesh Brijlal 1-17). Scarlet Ibis Scorchers win by 9 wickets.
FINAL
SOCA KINGS 119/5 (10 Overs) (Dejourn Charles 42 not out; Tion Webster 30; Dexter Sween 2-25) vs SCARLET IBIS SCORCHERS 120/4 (9.2 Overs) (Mikkel Govia 69 not out, Cephas Cooper 20). Scarlet Ibis Scorchers win by 5 wickets.
