By Dean “The Sportsman” Greenaway
Royal Knights’ Keon DeJesus, hits four of his 42 runs
It was a thrilling opener of the BVI Cricket Association’s Peter Haycraft Ten10 Cup in Greenland on Sunday, when Royal Knights fended off Cavaliers’ defiant charge for one-run victory, after the Vikings beat defending champion RTW Falcons by 44-runs, to start the five teams league.
In helping Royal Knights to post 126 in their 10 overs for the loss of one wicket, Keon DeJesus and Ameri Hinds, had an 80-run opening partnership before DeJesus was caught for 42. Third man Yohann Lezama came in with a quick fire 36 not out in 13 minutes, coupled with Hinds’ 45 not out, for the victory.
Chasing Cavaliers, got off to a terrible 2 for 12 start, then Avishkar Sewkarran and Dhanpaul Chrisnanand ignited for a 96-run recovery third wicket partnership, before Sewkarran was caught for 81. Dhanpaul was later caught for 36, as Cavaliers pulled within three runs of victory. However, with those three balls, they could only manage one more run as their overs ran out, sending Royal Knights into a frenzied celebration.
Royal Knights’ Captain Julian St. Clair, described it as an “intense game” that went down to the wire. “We had some intense bowling, some bad overs before it went down to the wire. It was a thrilling game,” he said. “The 126 runs weren’t the target we were looking for. We set out looking at a target of 150-160 runs, but 126 was a workable total knowing that we have pretty good bowlers, so we had confidence that we could probably defend the total. We got early wickets, but Sewkerran steadied the innings and that was the challenge for us. He played a brilliant innings that gave the Cavaliers a good chance in the game, but luckily, we got him in the ninth over, and that changed the game in our favor.”
Cavaliers Captain Gavin Hitnarine who went for a duck, told Island Sun Sports that they needed 15 runs in the last over for victory. “There was a dot ball, then Chrisnanand came and hit two sixes, then got out on the next ball and that was it,” Hitnarine said. “We had three balls to make three runs, and we could not make it and we lost by one run. But Dhanpaul and Sewkarran put up a fight.”
St. Clair said that his team kept their composure under Cavaliers’ pressures. “We didn’t give up. We fought to the end. We have senior players that contributed and always keep the spirit up, so that was a great deal,” he said. “This is a big boost of confidence. Playing Cavaliers, one of the big contenders in all forms of the game in the BVI, it’s always good to get a win against those guys. I believe moving forward, we’ll hold our heads up high, knowing that in a close game, we can defend ourselves and put our best foot forward.”
In the opening game, Julian Bannet hit the first century of the cup when he lashed 118 off 44 balls with 15 sixes, to lead the Vikings to a 44-run victory over defending champs, RTW Falcons. The Vikings posted 182 for 4, then Restricted the RTW Falcons to 138 for 3 in their 10 overs. Timothy Sookram was run out for a contributing 22, in support of Bannet’s century. Austin McDowall hit nine sixes to pace the RTW Falcons with 79, before he was run out by Bannet. Opener Joel Williams was bowled out for 34.
