Walker whacks & Bailey bamboozles as Vikings crush Cavaliers
Action got underway in the weekend’s double header, with the Royal Knights beating the resurgent Police team by 8 wickets.
Batting first the Police’s formidable line up was restricted to just 177 from their 20 overs, with the Knights bowlers disciplined in line and length.
Shem Stay top scored for the Police with 70 and Collis Fraser chipped in with a half century, but Julian Sinclair (3-16) and Winston Davis (2-32) took wickets at crucial stages to deny the innings a flourishing finish.
In reply, the Royal Knights put in a command performance with the bat, with the top four sealing a comfortable victory.
Ryan Mangal top scored with an undefeated 49, Richard Fredericks hit 43; George Harris 36 and Steve Shivprersad 26 not out.
“We learned from the last game, which we lost, so this time we focused and played sensible cricket to come out victorious. We back our bowlers every time to restrict the opposition and today they did performed just as we needed,” commented Fredericks, the Knights Captain.
“We needed to get 250 today! We lacked a bowler so we needed to post a good score so we could put some pressure on them. We never got going as I know we can and the total was always going to be hard to defend,” noted Kevin Joseph, the Police Skipper.
Kevin Walker's onslaught gives Vikings perfect start
The repeat of last year’s final, the Cavaliers versus the Vikings, again went the way of the Vikings as they turned what seemed a lost cause into a crushing win by a margin of 83 runs.
Batting first, the Vikings were indebted first to Kevin Walker who smashed his way to 63 atop the order and then secondly, having been reduced to 150-8, to Roy Bobb who hit freely on his way to a game defining unbeaten 35.
Teddy Nankishore started the tumble of wickets and finished with 3-43, including the wickets of Walker, Vishal Manesar and Johnny Bailey. Gopaul Booderham also took 3 wickets as he ripped through the middle order to give the Cavaliers a brief hint of revenge for the 2014 defeat.
A target of 195 would never usually unsettle the Cavaliers but they are a different team this time around and despite Nankishore cutting a lonely figure at one end, the rest of the batting had no answer to the slow left arm of Bailey. He bamboozled the batters into complete confusion, picking up 4 -15 and effectively killing the contest.
Ronan Hushman picked up 2-19 and Andrew Richards supplied the coup de grace, finishing with the scalps of Nankishore (72) and then Gangoo to complete the victory with the Cavaliers all out for 111.
“We weren’t really nervous during our innings as we knew once we got past 150 our bowlers would do the job. When we nipped out the first four scalps, the confidence grew and we came out victorious. We planned our bowling and today we executed well. Our fielding is getting better and better and we are looking to push on and retain our title,” beamed Vishal Manesar, the Vikings captain.
“It was a terrible display of batting,” lamented Cavaliers Captain, Vishal Bharat. “I’ve never seen us do that before. No one wanted to stay with Teddy, just playing some ugly shots and getting out.”
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