SPORTS
Jonathan Ramnansingh
Fides Ltd Scarlet Ibis Scorchers won the Dream XI T10 Blast title after defeating Soca Kings by 22 runs at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba, on Sunday.
Chasing a target of 106 for victory and needing 23 runs from the last over, the Soca Kings were beaten when Scorchers pacer Eric Garcia masterfully bowled sixes to halt their chase and take top honors in the third edition of the tournament.
Batting first, the Scorchers got off to a shaky start as they lost three wickets in the first three overs, with just 30 runs on the board.
After hitting Soca Kings spinner Sunil Narine for a boundary off his second ball, Daron Cruickshank (four) was bowled with the next delivery. Kamil Pooran (five) was next to go, caught by Jason Mohammed off Ahkeel Mollon in the second over.
And in the third, Jon-Russ Jagessar had Scorchers skipper Tion Webster (four) caught behind by Dejourn Charles, which made way for Anderson Mahase and Mikhil Govia in the middle.
The pair added 26 runs in the partnership before Mahase (18) was caught by Jarlarnie Seales off the pace of Sion Hackett. Govia (14) was removed the same way Hackett had caught him off Kirstan Kallicharan. At that point, the Scorchers were 60/5 after 5.5 overs.
Young batsman Dexter Sween continued to stabilize the innings smashing 29 runs off nine balls, including four sixes. Andrew Rambaran also chipped in with 13.
Narine (2/6) was the top bowler for Soca Kings while Hackett (2/26) was also among the wickets. On their side at the crease, Soca Kings got off to a fair start with opener Kallicharan (14) and Narine (15) starting. Their dismissal welcomed captain Jason Mohammed (16) and Dejourn Charles (13) in the middle, who both tried to stabilize the innings.
But the Scorchers threatened repeatedly with the ball and after the duo’s departure, their only resistance with the bat came from Jarlarnie Seales (19), who eventually scored the lead for them.
Soca Kings lost middle and lower order wickets in quick succession, and needed a huge 23 runs from the final over. Garcia couldn’t play to seal the win for the Scarlet Ibis Scorchers.
In the playoff match earlier, Scorchers earned a shot at the title after beating Steelpan Players by 12 runs. The former batted first and reached 125/3 after ten overs, with Webster blasting an unbeaten 70 off 24 balls, while Pooran had 28.
The Steelpan players tried to reach the target but tight bowling from the Scorchers attack restricted them to 113/5. Adrian Ali (39 not out) and Isaiah Rajah (22 not out) led the scorers.
