Match Report – Finals: La Soufriere Hikers vs Dark View Explorers
Dark View Explorers won the toss and chose to bowl.
Rayan Williams got the wicket of Desron Maloney in the 2nd over and Deron Greaves followed up in the 3rd over taking the wicket of Salvan Browne. Hikers were struggling at 18-2 in the powerplay. Things got worse as Dillon Douglas perished in the 5th over.
The swing in momentum came during the 6th over that went for 16 runs. Othneil Lewis continued his six hitting form in the 8th over, hitting a hat trick of sixes to put Hikers back in the reckoning. Beniton Stapleton joined him and they both devastated the Explorers bowling attack. Hikers managed to take 55 runs from the final 3 overs of the innings, to power their way to 107/5, a score that they would take any day from the position they were in. Othneil Lewis top scored with 39 from 23 deliveries, hitting 2 four and 4 sixes. Beniton Stapleton supported with 23 not out from 9 deliveries, smashing 3 sixes. Sealron Williams with 2-17 was the pick of the bowlers.
Explorers started the chase well, finishing the powerplay on 41 without a loss of wicket. Romano Pierre was continuing his fine form, picking boundaries at will. The rain came and interrupted play for a short while but that slowed down Explorers momentum as they could only get 21 runs from overs 5 to 7. with 46 runs required from 18 deliveries, they needed solid overs to keep them in the hunt. The game was beginning to turn into a tante merle affair with boundaries starting to flow and wickets falling. The 9th over costed 16 runs leaving 20 to win from the last over. Dean Browne smashed the 2nd legal delivery for 6 but was bowled off the 3rd ball. With 9 left for victory from the last ball, Stapleton committed a cardinal sin and bowled a no ball but the batsmen didn’t run which was a clear error – a run would have given them a chance to have a super over. The final ball was eventually dispatched for six, leaving Explorers 1 run short of tieing the game. Hikers though, were victorious by that one run and bagged their 2nd championship VPL title.
Romano Pierre top scored with 45 from 28 deliveries, hitting 5 fours and 2 sixes. O’Jay Matthews bowled a top class spell, which proved pivotal for the Hikers – he took 2-13 from his two overs.
La Soufriere Hikers 107/5 (10 overs)
Dark View Explorers 106/4 (10 overs)