Spinner Devon Lord led Yorkshire with five wickets as they beat the highly-fancied Queen’s Park Cricket Club (QPCC) by three runs in the T&T Cricket Board/Trinbago Knight Riders (TTCB/TKR) T20 Festival at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair, Port-of-Spain on Wednesday evening.
Lord took five for 23 to restrict the Parkites to 200 for nine in pursuit of 204 to win.
Granted, Queen’s Park did not have Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine, who both left for the Indian Premier League (IPL) after they helped the Parkites beat Preysal last Thursday, but with the likes of skipper Daren Bravo, Andre "Spiceman" Fletcher and Akeal Hosein, the Tragarete Road team was still expected to be a formidable opponent.
Yorkshire, playing in their first season in the top flight of cricket locally and currently, sits sixth in the ten-team League table, beat League leaders and reigning T20 Festival champions Central Sports in last Thursday’s opener.
The newcomers started with a 62-run partnership after they chose to bat first after winning the toss. Ethan Gibson hit seven fours in his 16-ball 33 at the top of the order with Mario Belcon, who contributed 50 with six fours and two sixes. Gibson was the first to be dismissed when he was caught by Dexter Sween to give Hosein his solitary wicket with 62 runs on the board.
Akeel Mohammed joined Belcon and scored 23 as they shared in a 51-run partnership in five overs and two balls.
Skipper Tevon James came in at number four and saw to it the south-based Cunjal team maintained the run rate with an unbeaten 42. During his time at the middle, he lost Belcon, Ziggy Levy (11), Qwinci Babel (9), Lord (9) and remained not out with wicketkeeper Samuel Felix.
Yorkshire closed on 203 for six in 20 overs.
"Spiceman" Fletcher scored only 13 when the Parkites made their reply and was the first to go when 13 runs were on the board in the second over. Two overs later, the other opener, Kyle Ramdoo scored 15 but was out when he was bowled by Lord, who also dismissed Fletcher.
Lord completed the top-order demolition in the sixth over when he rattled Terrence Hinds’ stumps at 49 for three to dismiss the West Indies allrounder for 19.
Bravo and Isaiah Rajah then took matters into their own hands and combined for an 82-run partnership. They took the score to 131 in the 14th over before Rajah was caught by Levy in an over bowled by Babel.
QPCC rallied in the back end of the innings and kept pace with contributions from Hosein (17 from 10) and Philton Williams (18 from 6). It came down to the Parkites needing 10 runs to win from the last over. But Lord had the last word. First ball of the last over, Bravo, who was well set at 59, tried to go for the maximum but was caught on the long-off boundary by Babel who covered some ground running to his left to complete the catch.
Queen’s Park was 194 for eight with five balls remaining to get ten runs. Two balls later, Joshua Davis was caught similarly, caught by Babel on the boundary going for a maximum to be dismissed for no score, and left Queen’s Park with the task of getting nine runs in three balls. Lord’s two wickets in the last over helped him finish with five for 23 from his four overs.
In the end, Queen’s Park got to 200 for nine, four runs short of a win, handing Yorkshire the win by three runs.
Alleyne, Lewis plunder Preysal
In the second match of the day, Kadeem Alleyne and Evin Lewis both scored hundreds as Marchin Patriots recorded their second win in as many matches in the tournament.
Alleyne struck 11 fours and ten sixes in his knock of 119 and Lewis hit six fours and 12 sixes in an unbeaten 125 as Patriots scored 270 for two from their 20 overs.
In reply, Preysal Sports Club, who beat Yorkshire on Saturday, was restricted to 173 for 4 in 20 overs to hand the Patriots a 97-run win.
Sachin Seecharan finished unbeaten on 86 with nine fours and five sixes, while Matthew Patrick also finished unbeaten on 31.
Summarised scores
Marchin Patriots 270/2 (20 overs) (Evin Lewis 125; Kadeem Allyne 119; Aneal Rooplal 1-32) vs Preysal 173/4 (20 overs) (Sachin Seecharan 86; Matthew Patrick 31 not out; Giovante Depieza 1-9). Marchin Patriots won by 97 runs.
Yorkshire 203/6 (20 overs) (Mario Belcon 50; Tevon James 42 not out; Philton Williams 3-40) vs QPCC 200/9 (20 overs) (Darren Bravo 59; Isaiah Rajah 38; Devon Lord 5-23). Yorkshire won by 3 runs.
