Match Report: 13th Match – La Soufriere Hikers vs Dark View Explorers
Dark View Explorers won the toss and choose to field first.
Deron Greaves bowled a tidy first over to Salvan Browne, only conceding four runs. Hikers managed to pick up some boundaries but the scoring never got going in the powerplay overs. Both Hodge and Browne was dismissed by the spin of Greaves & Hooper respectively. The Hikers could only reach 26/2, well below par score from the average in VPL 2.0.
Sealron Williams, star bowler for Explorers, got captain Maloney bowled after he dispatched him for six over mid wicket the previous delivery, Hikers continue to struggle on 32/3. Dillon Douglas, the form man for the Hikers, got into Alick Athanaze’s sixth over and smashed two sixes, taking 17 runs from the over.
All hopes now resting on Douglas, he continued his stroke play. He top edged a six then swung a short ball over mid wicket for another six. He finished off the over in style, slogging a slower delivery over mid wicket, the 7th over conceding 20 runs. Sealron Williams did his job and restricted the 8th over to only 8 runs, the batsmen not allowed to get anything loose to put away, the score on 77/3 after 8 overs.
Dean Browne bowled the 9th over and got Douglas bowled off the first delivery. Othneil Lewis, new man in, struck a six off his first delivery. The over got better for Explorers as only two more runs was conceded and the wicket of Lewis – 85/5 after 9 overs.
It was a comedy of errors from Explorers allowing four easy extra runs in bad fielding, allowing Hikers to finish on 97/5. The Explorers would have been pleased with their bowling performance.
Miles Bascombe got into his groove early and started the domination. He combined with Greaves to null the dream pair spin attack of Lewis & Hodge, taking the score to 39/1 at the end of the powerplay. Bascombe hit two towering sixes over mid wicket.
Jeremy Haywood delivered an excellent 6th over, conceding only 4 fours and taking the wicket of Shamon Hooper. Alick Athanaze joined Bascombe at the crease but perished without facing a delivery, being run out. Explorers were in a bit of a bother, requiring 43 runs from 24 deliveries. Thanks to two fielding mishaps on the long off boundary, Explorers were gifted two boundaries during the 7th over, leaving 30 runs for victory from 18 deliveries. Jeremy Haywood got the dangerous Dean Browne in the 8th over but Bascombe kept rollicking along, smashing another six and bringing up his half century in 29 deliveries.
With 21 runs to win from 12 deliveries, Explorers got 6 runs from the three deliveries bowled in the 9th over before the rain came and put a stop to play for a while.
After the resumption, the first two deliveries were dispatched over long on for six by Lindon James off Strough, all but making victory inevitable. With only two to win off the last over, the second delivery was pulled for four by James, possibly signalling a return to form by him and Explorers living up to their expectations in their last two matches.
La Soufriere Hikers 97/5 (10 overs)
Dark View Explorers 100/4 (9.2 overs)