Fairburn, Mineral lead 40-over contest
SANDY BAY, Clarendon — Fairburn maintained their four-point lead atop Group A of the Clarendon ’40 for 40′ limited-overs competition with a comfortable 128-run win over Sevens Heights in round four last Sunday at Fairburn.
Electing to bat first, Fairburn tallied 285-9 off 30 overs with Gilbert Richards (62), Larone Francis (45) and Conroy Lawrence (35, unbeaten) getting the bulk of the runs against Andrew Bryce, 4-37, and Steve Johnson, 4-46.
Led by Paul Manning’s 5-18 from 4.1 overs, Fairburn later used up 23.1 overs to dismiss Sevens Heights for 157.
Shane Wint (36) and Andrew Reid (27) were the only batsmen to record double figures for Sevens Heights, who are now fifth in the group on four points — 12 behind Fairburn.
In other Group A results, second-placed Campden, with a game in hand, stayed in touch after easing past Treadlight by 164 runs.
Campden made 325-5 in 35 overs behind a century from Krishmar Santokie (114), and then bowled out Treadlight for 161 in 28 overs to move within four points of Fairburn.
At Ebony Park Heart Academy, Desmond McNabb’s all-round performance of 41 and 6-24 highlighted the home team’s narrow 25-run win over Twin Palms.
Ebony posted 129 all out in 20 overs, but showed lots of character in defending their slim total by bowling out Twin Palms for 104 in 26 overs.
In Group B, Bushy Park moved back into contention for a place in the semi-finals after registering a nail-biting one-wicket victory against Sandy Bay at Green Park.
Chasing a target of 234, Bushy Park — who have now joined Portland Cottage in second place on eight points — reached their target in 38.4 overs with Fitzroy Beaumont leading the fight-back with a stroke-fill 89.
Also on Sunday, Mineral Heights condemned Bring Back The Love (BBTL) to their third defeat in four games to consolidate their position atop the group with 16 points, after an 81-run win.
Mineral Heights made 246 all-out in 32 overs, then took 27 overs to dismiss BBTL for 165.
Meanwhile, Wood Hall remain rooted at the bottom of the group with no point from four games after going down to Four Paths by 109 runs at home.
Needing 268 to seal victory, they could only manage 158 all-out in 30 overs as Four Paths recorded their first win, but stayed second from bottom with four points.