T&T Red Force captain Joshua Da Silva scored an unbeaten century (102 not out) to lead Queen’s Park Cricket Club (QPCC) to a six-wicket win over Central Sports on Sunday evening at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair, Port-of-Spain to knock the reigning champions out of the T&T Cricket Board/Trinbago Knight Riders (TTCB/TKR) T20 Festival.
The Felicity-based team lost two of their previous three matches and needed to win to keep their hopes alive and advance to the semifinals.
The Two-Day League leaders, who are still unbeaten in the longer version of the game, were put in to bat first and got a 34-run stand between Leonardo Julien and Kamil Pooran in just three overs. It ended with the first ball of the fourth over when Julien met his demise as he was caught by Akeal Hosein off the bowling of Philton Williams for 15.
Jabari Mills, who scored a century in their win over Preysal on Friday, made only 11 before he was bowled by Khary Pierre, leaving the middle with the score on 55/2 in seven overs.
Derone Davis joined Pooran and they put together the biggest partnership of the innings. Pooran scored 50 runs in the partnership while Davis added 17 before he was out caught by Amir Jangoo, giving Williams his second wicket. The partnership lasted 68 runs or six overs and two balls.
Seven runs later, Pooran was caught by Bryan Charles, giving Pierre his second wicket for 80 with the score on 130.
Mikkel Govia scored an unbeaten 25 from just 15 balls at the back end of the innings as Central Sports closed on 194/4 from 20 overs.
QPCC opened with Test wicket-keeper/batsmen Amir Jangoo and Da Silva but the partnership lasted only 28 when Jangoo was caught by Govia from a ball bowled by Marlon Richards.
Andre Fletcher’s time in the middle was short, as he made only one.
Darren Bravo sparked a bit but gave Govia a return catch when he was on ten. Bravo’s wicket came with the score on 92/3 at the end of eight overs.
Da Silva was on 69 at the time when Jyd Goolie joined him after the fall of Bravo’s wicket. Goolie then scored 51 and was fourth out when he hit Imran Khan into the hands of Mills at 173.
The Parkites needed a further 21 runs from 28 balls to secure victory and got over the line without further hiccups. Hosein finished on 13 not out and Da Silva finished on 102 not out as they got to 194/4 in 18.4 overs and eight balls remaining.
The win condemned Central Sports to only two points from their solitary win over Preysal, knocking the holders out of the tournament.
In the second match, the Bess Motors Marchin Patriots confirmed its ticket to Friday's semifinals with a 95-run win over Yorkshire. Kadeem Alleyne (76), Evin Lewis (59) and Chrystian Thurton (50 not out) enabled Marchin to put up 259/3 before restricting Yorkshire to 164/7 from their 20 overs.
Summarised scores
Central Sports 193/6 (20 overs) (Kamil Pooran 80; Jesse Bootan 29; Khary Pierre 2-32; Philton Williams 2-34) vs Queen’s Park 194/4 (18.4 overs) (Joshua Da Silva 102 not out; Marlon Richards 2-43). Queen’s Park won by 6 wickets.
Marchin Patriots 259/3 (Kadeem Alleyne 76; Evin Lewis 59; Chrystian Thurton 50; Adrian Mohammed 2-39) vs Yorkshire 164/7 (20 overs) ( Ethan Gibson 55; Ziffy Levy 32; Ricky Jaipaul 4-28). Patriots won by 95 runs.
