Johnson Mountain and Fairfield secure semi spots

The parish of St Thomas has a lot to smile about in the SDC/ Wray & Nephew National Community T20 cricket competition, as their representative Johnson Mountain became the first automatic qualifier to the semi-finals of the competition last Saturday.

Johnson Mountain secured their berth following a comprehensive eight-wicket win over Orange from St James following quarter-final action at Chedwin Park.

In the opening game of the double-header, Orange won the toss and decided to take the first strike.

The St James team put up 16 runs on the board before they lost their first wicket, as Nickel Scott went lbw to Xavier Scott for nine.

After the fall of that wicket, the dreadlocked Dalton James took over as he smashed a brilliant unbeaten 85 to propel Orange to a competitive total of 164 for 4 in their allotted 20 overs.

James innings included eight powerful fours and two massive sixes. Zavier Hutchinson chipped in with 26 and Ricardo Dewar 21. Scott finished with 1 for 12 from his four overs while Yahfi Gould bagged 1 for 33 in four overs.

With a formidable score on the board, Orange was looking to make early inroads in the Johnson Mountain batting, but that did not materialise as captain Gavaskar Malachi and Gould peeled the Orange attack down to its core.

Victory target

The pair smashed the bowling to all parts of Chedwin Park as they shared in a 130-run second-wicket stand to ease to their victory target of 167 for 2 in 16.3 overs.

Gould contributed 61, while captain Malachi was left unbeaten on 72.

"We came here with a mission and that mission was to remain unbeaten in the competition. We aim to win this competition and if we are going to win, we have to remain unbeaten going forward," said Malachi.

Meanwhile, in the second game of the doubleheader, Fairfield of Manchester defeated title favourites Orange Hill out of Westmorland by 24 runs. The win enabled Fairfield to advance to the competition's play-off.

Fairfield batted first and posted 151 all out in 19. 2 overs, with opener Brian Clarke top-scoring with a brilliant 80. His innings included four fours and five sixes. NykoBanton was equally impressive with the ball, bagging 5 for 29 from four overs, while Jovian Stora picked up 2 for 20 from 3.2 overs.