Gayle CC and Orange Hill to clash in SDC national T20 final

The Noranda Sports Complex in Discovery Bay in St Ann is set to come alight with some swashbuckling T20 action on Sunday, as Gayle Cricket Club out of St Mary square off with Orange Hill from Westmorland for the 2019 SDC/Wray & Nephew National Community T20 championship.

The 2 p.m. encounter is pitted to be the quintessential battle of the bowlers as both teams have formidable attacks balanced with fast bowlers and spinners.

Gayle CC, who narrowly got by Johnson Mountain in the semi-finals, will be banking on their leading wicket-taker in opening bowler Jevaughn Hinds who has picked up 20 wickets in the competition thus far.

Captain Sheldon Pryce, who has also snared 17 wickets, says his game plan will be simple come game day.

"If we win the toss on Sunday, we will bat first and put a score on the board. We have a very good bowling unit and we believe once we get a good total, very few teams in this competition can match us."

Pryce added that his team will be banking on off-spinner Brian Robinson to come up trumps on the day, as he believes the Orange Hill team is deficient against slow bowling.

Batting department

"I know that the Orange Hill team doesn't play slow bowling well, they love the pace and we are going to be mixing things up to try and throw them off their game."

In the batting department, Gayle CC will be oozing with confidence knowing that they have the competitions leading run-scorer in their line-up, in Anthony Walters.

Walters has racked up 700 runs including three centuries to his name. Brian Buchanan is also expected to factor with the bat, having scored more than 200 runs.

In the meantime, Orange Hill from Westmorland will be looking to secure the title all to themselves having shared the SDC trophy with South Stars of Manchester back in 2010.

The Neiko Banton-led team will have their brand of quality bowlers to pick on, namely off-spinner Ryan Burnette, who bagged five wickets against White River in the semi-finals.

Pacers Navardo Williams and Ewan Andrews should add some pep upfront with the new ball with Jovian Stora supporting in the middle overs.

In the batting, the Orange Hill team will rely on the hard-hitting opening batman Myron Wilson, with former national youth players Aldane Samuels and Ziggy Levy offering steady support.

Captain Banton is also expecting a bowling duel, and he laments that the team that executes the discipline best on the day will win the contest.

"Our bowling is also our strongest part of our game; we know they don't like the spinners either, so we are going to unleash them on Sunday.