Golden Eagles And Empire Remain On Course In T20 Explosion

Caribbean Union Bank (CUB) Bethesda Golden Eagles improved their chances of advancing to the semifinal round of the 2017 Cool & Smooth T20 Cricket Explosion on Monday, beating Montserrat by 47 runs at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.
In the first match of a double-header, Montserrat inserted Golden Eagles after winning the toss, a decision that, in the end, did not swing in their favour.
Golden Eagles amassed a total of 158 for seven in their 20 overs with Austin Richards Jr slamming 64 and Tonito Willett hitting 28. Javer Drew contributed to the total with a knock of 24 runs.
Brian Stephanie was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors, bagging three wickets for 32 runs in four overs.
Montserrat fell short of their target, reaching 111 for eight in their allotted 20 overs. Dion West and McPherson Meade were the only two troubling the scorers, reaching 35 and 28 runs, respectively.
Anthony Martin and Desir Strange each had two wickets for the golden Eagles.
One member of the management staff, Kenny Lewis, said the players were focused on the mission at hand and he commended them for getting the job done.
“The team knew what we had to so and we said form the beginning that we want to stay focused. There were one or two times where there was a little lapse but we regained our composure very early and we were able to put Montserrat behind us,” he said.
In Monday’s feature contest, Empire brushed aside Jennings by 104 runs to rack up their third victory of the competition and significantly improved their chances of qualification to the semifinal round.
Sent in to bat, Empire reached 165 for 8 in their 20 overs with their top score being 28 runs coming from Mali Richards. There was also a knock of 27 from Justin Athanaze.
James Cornelius and Brandon Harris were the pick of the bowlers for Jennings, picking up three for 44 and three for 19 respectively.
When their turn at the crease arrived, Jennings could only get to 61 before they were all out in 13.2 overs.
Damien Lowenfield (2/28), Owen Graham (2/5) and Athanaze (2/0) did the damage with the ball for Empire.
Coach Ian Title said his team is still not performing at optimum.
“No, I don’t think we are playing our best at the moment, I think we have a lot more improvement to do. I need someone to bat through the innings. We don’t have a preference of who we would like to play in the semis, no matter who we play against, we will just have to win,” he said.
The competition is expected to climax on Sunday with the third place contest and the finals at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.