July 18, 2018 issue
Cricket
The team, with an average age of 22, surprised many by reaching the Final with great team cricket before their worst performance in the tournament saw then being beaten by Chris Gayle’s Vancouver Knights.
West Indies ‘B’ won their first four matches but lost the next two leading up to the finals.
Vancouver Knights collected $500,000 Canadian dollars, while West Indies took home $250,000 in addition to earning Cricket West Indies some big ‘bucks’ for sending a team to the three-week tournament as one of the six teams.
The tournament included 22 matches and according to Cricket Canada’s President Ranjit Saini the West Indies is a sponsor of the League and partnered to assist Cricket Canada in the conduct of the tournament and got a fee for sending a team.
Brian Lara is the tournament Ambassador of a league owned by Mercuri Canada Limited which is run by Sriram Bakthisaran, an Indian entrepreneur.
Mercuri signed a Masters License Agreement with Cricket Canada to own and operate the League for 25 years and is the sole owner of the League but aims to have investors buy five of the six teams next year.
Cricket Canada will benefit by Mercuri paying an annual fee of US$500,000 for the first year with an increment of US$100,000 each year for the next five years. From the sixth year Cricket Canada will get the stipulated fee or 10% of the gross profit or whichever is higher.
Shahid Afridi, Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Chris Lynn, Lasith Malinga, David Miller, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy and Steve Smith were the marquee players and paid US$100,000 each.
The others got from US$3,000 to US$90,000 but the player who made the biggest was Guyanese all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford.
The 19-year-old Rutherford scored the only century in the tournament with a sensational unbeaten 134 from just 66 balls and his 10 sixes equalled Evin Lewis’s 10 during his 96.
Rutherford reached the boundary 17 times and cleared it on 19 occasions in compiling 230 runs and was only behind Simmons (23) and Andrew Russell (20) for the most sixes in the tournament.
Rutherford scored more than any of his team mates although Nicolas Pooran (176), Justin Greaves (171), Fabien Allen (169), Brandon King (179) and Shamar Springer (133) all scored fifties.
Only 21-year-old St Lucian Obed McCoy, who had 11 with a best of 4-22 and 29-year-old Jamaican Derval Green with eight wickets, got more wickets than Rutherford’s seven for West Indies ‘B’.
Only Lendl Simmons (321) and South African Erasmus van der Dussen (255) scored more runs than the left-handed Rutherford who hails from Enmore and plays for DCC in the City.
It won’t be such a bad idea to pick Rutherford in the squad against a not so strong Bangladesh side for the ODI series which starts on Sunday at Providence where he made his First-Class debut last year.
The first two matches of the three-match series will be played in Guyana and if Rutherford is selected along with Kemo Paul and Shimron Hetymer this could help to galvanise a capacity crowd to provide the type of atmosphere which has been absent at any of the grounds which hosted matches involving Sri Lanka and Bangladesh this season.
June 28, Toronto Nationals v Vancouver Knights
Vancouver Knights 227/4; Toronto Nationals 231/4 (19.2/20 ov)
Nationals won by 6 wickets (with 4 balls remaining)
June 29, Winnipeg Hawks v Montreal Tigers
Winnipeg Hawks 203/4; Montreal Tigers 157 (18.5/20 ov)
Hawks won by 46 runs
June 30, Toronto Nationals v Edmonton Royals
Toronto Nationals 169/7; Edmonton Royals 173/2 (15/20 ov)
Royals won by 8 wickets (with 30 balls remaining)
June 30, Montreal Tigers v West Indies B
Montreal Tigers 184/9; West Indies B 187/8 (19.1/20 ov)
West Indies B won by 2 wickets (with 5 balls remaining)
July 1, Winnipeg Hawks v Vancouver Knights
Winnipeg Hawks 156/9; Vancouver Knights 162/4 (17.4/20 ov)
Vancouver Knights won by 6 wickets (with 14 balls remaining)
July 1, Edmonton Royals v West Indies B
Edmonton Royals 155; West Indies B 159/7 (18/20 ov)
West Indies B won by 3 wickets (with 12 balls remaining)
July 2, Winnipeg Hawks v Toronto Nationals
Winnipeg Hawks 164/6; Toronto Nationals 108 17.2/20
Winnipeg Hawks won by 56 runs
July 2, Montreal Tigers v Vancouver Knights
Vancouver Knights 166/6; Montreal Tigers 148/9 (19.4/20)
Vancouver Knights won by 18 runs
July 4, Montreal Tigers v Edmonton Royals
Montreal Tigers 129/6 (20 ov); Edmonton Royals 114 (19.1 ov)
Montreal Tigers won by 15 runs
July 5, Winnipeg Hawks v West Indies B
Winnipeg Hawks 151/8 (20 ov); West Indies B 155/1 (17.5 ov)
West Indies B won by 9 wickets
July 6, Vancouver Knights v Edmonton Royals
Match Abandoned
July 7, Toronto Nationals v West Indies B
Toronto Nationals 128/5 (20 ov); West Indies B 131/2 (14.1 ov)
West Indies B won by 8 wickets
July 7, Winnipeg Hawks v Edmonton Royals
Winnipeg Hawks 203/5 (20 ov); Edmon Royals 209/5 (19.3 ov)
Edmonton Royals won by 5 wickets
July 8, Vancouver Knights v West Indies B
Vancouver Knights 175/4 (20 ov); WI B 140/10 (19.3 ov)
Vancouver Knights won by 35 runs
July 8, Toronto Nationals v Montreal Tigers
Toronto Nationals 179/9 (20 ov); Montreal Tigers 176/4 (20 ov)
Toronto Nationals won by 1 wicket
July 10, Round 2 , 1st match -
Toronto Nationals v Vancouver Knights
Toronto Nationals 103/10 (16.5 ov); Van Knights 104/2 (12.3 ov)
Vancouver Knights won by 8 wickets
July 10, Round 2 , 2nd match -
West Indies B v Montreal Tigers
West Indies B 162/7 (20 ov); Montreal Tigers 165/4 (17.3 ov)
Montreal Tigers won by 6 wickets
July 11, Round 2 , 3rd match -
Winnipeg Hawks v Edmonton Royals
Edm Royals 141/10 (20 ov); Winnipeg Hawks 142/2 (16.4 ov)
Winnipeg Hawks won by 8 wickets
July 12, Qualifier 1 - Winnipeg Hawks v Edmonton Royals
Edm Royals 183/9 (20 ov); Winnipeg Hawks 185/3 (19.5 ov)
Winnipeg Hawks won by 7 wickets
July 12, Eliminator - Vancouver Knights v West Indies B
Vancouver Knights 215/6 (20 ov); WI B 221/4 (20 ov)
West Indies B won by 6 wickets
July 14, Qualifier 2 - Vancouver Knights v Winnipeg Hawks
Van Knights 152/5 (13.0 ov); Winnipeg Hawks 84/5 (8.3 ov)
Vancouver Knights won by 13 rund (D/L method)
July 15, Final - West Indies B v Vancouver Knights
WI B 145/10 (17.4 ov); Vancouver Knights 148/3 (17.3 ov)
Vancouver Knights won by 7 wickets – WINNERS
England served notice of their World Cup-winning credentials by crushing India in the third one-day international to take the series 2-1.
The home side eased to their target of 257 with 33 balls and eight wickets to spare – Joe Root hitting the winning runs to complete a second successive century and Eoin Morgan ending on 88 not out.
That India were restricted to a modest 256-8 was down to England's excellence with the ball and in the field.
Shikhar Dhawan made 44 before being run out by Ben Stokes, while Virat Kohli looked ominous for 71 until he was bowled by a lovely Adil Rashid delivery.
With England's limited-overs summer now at an end, the first of five Tests against India begins on Wednesday, 1st August.
Less than 12 months from hosting the World Cup, England have justified their tag as the world number one by beating the side ranked second.
If the defeat in Scotland now looks like an aberration and the 5-0 whitewash of Australia lacks meaning because of the quality of the opposition, then this success is impressive because of the way England have had to adapt their game.
In the first ODI at Trent Bridge, England were destroyed by the left-arm wrist-spin of Kuldeep Yadav, but they controlled India in the second match at Lord's and dominated in Leeds.
Indeed, just as at Lord's, it was England's spinners who had more influence on the game at Headingley, while the patience of their batsmen against Kuldeep meant he went wicketless.
It was perhaps a brave move by captain Morgan to opt to chase on a surface which threatened to deteriorate, but his side rose to the challenge.
Specifically, two brilliant pieces of cricket turned the game in England's favour.
Dhawan and Kohli had added 71 when Kohli turned the ball to square leg and sent Dhawan back. Stokes swooped one-handed and threw in one motion, his direct hit defeating Dhawan by millimetres.
Later, Kohli was looking poised in a knock full of delicate deflections and deft placement. However, he was left bewildered by a wonderful Rashid leg-break that pitched on leg stump and hit the top of off.
That was part of yet another dependable display from the accurate Rashid, who claimed 3-49. Off-spinner Moeen Ali offered similar control and pace bowler Mark Wood zipped the ball around for miserly figures of 1-30.
Only Liam Plunkett, who went for more than eight an over, bowled poorly.
MS Dhoni – so negative at Lord's on Saturday – overturned being given lbw to Moeen, but failed in his efforts to accelerate the scoring and edged David Willey (3-40) behind.
Only the late hitting of Shardul Thakur, who heaved India's two sixes, saw the visitors take 32 from the final three overs.
With the ball turning for the spinners and moving for the pace bowlers, England's target could have been tricky.
They found themselves 74-2 after Jonny Bairstow's boundary-laden 30 from 13 balls and James Vince, opening in place of the injured Jason Roy, was run out for 27.
From there, skipper Morgan and his Test counterpart Root showed composure and ruthlessness in an unbroken partnership of 186.
Root followed up his hundred at Lord's with a measured innings on his home ground. He ran with urgency, punished short balls with pulls and drove with elegance.
Left-hander Morgan was also free-scoring – lofting drives over extra cover and muscling the ball through the leg side, including England's only six.
India had chances. Root would have been stumped on 69 off Yuzvendra Chahal had the bowler not overstepped, while Bhuv-neshwar Kumar's simple drop at mid-on when Morgan was on 85 summed up the visitors' day.
Soon after, with Root on 97 and one needed for victory, he dragged a Pandya full toss to the mid-wicket boundary and celebrated with a mic drop of his bat.
England captain Eoin Morgan: "I think it was an outstanding performance. The bowlers set the tone early on. David Willey and Mark Wood hit their lines and lengths really well. From that point, there was no let up.
"We know the conditions here really well, so we managed to take advantage of that."
India captain Virat Kohli: "I thought we were never on the mark as far as runs were concerned. We were 25 or 30 short.
"England were clinical with bat, ball and in the field throughout. They deserved to win. We were not good enough.
"Against England you need to be at your best. Credit goes to them.
"They suffocated us through the middle overs really well. The two spinners bowled well in partnership."
Despite being rolled over for their lowest-ever total against Bangladesh when they were dismissed for 129 in their second innings, West Indies quickly hit back with vengeance, crushing the tourists for a meagre 168 to complete a 2-0 series win and climb back above their opponents to eighth in the ICC Test rankings.
The 26-year-old Holder was at the forefront of the Windies success, claiming six for 59 – his third five-wicket haul in the last six innings – to finish with career-best match figures of 11 for 103 and 16 wickets in the series.
For his superb efforts, Holder picked up the Man-of-the-Match and Man-of-the-Series awards, to leave his stamp on on the series.
“[For me it’s] just heart, just fight,” Holder said afterwards in reference to his performance.
“I always ask the guys for one last push, I always ask the guys to give everything and I just feel as if I do it from the front, the guys would be able to follow.
“That’s my mantra basically, to go out there and just put everything in. I expect tough days in cricket and tough days in life so it’s just about coping with it and getting through.”
Set an improbable 335 for victory, Bangladesh never came to grips with the Windies attack as Shakib top-scored with 54, opener Liton Das struck a run-a-ball 33 while former skipper Mushfiqur Rahim chipped in with 31.
They stumbled at the start of their run chase when experienced opener Tamim Iqbal fell without scoring in the third over with the score on two, lbw to Holder defending.
Liton Das played positively, however, cracking six fours in a 38-run, second wicket stand with Mominul Haque (15).
Ten minutes before tea, however, Das sliced a tentative drive at debutant pacer Keemo Paul and was caught at gully by Shai Hope, and with the last ball before the interval, Mominul missed a forward defensive prod at one from off-spinner Roston Chase (2-20) which went on with the arm, and perished lbw.
Wobbling on 52 for three at tea, Bangladesh lost their fourth wicket 20 minutes after the resumption, Mahmudullah (4) playing an atrocious heave at Chase and gifting his wicket to a catch at mid-wicket.
Shakib, however, found an ally in Mushfiqur and together they put on 54 for the fifth wicket, to temporarily avert danger for Bangladesh.
The left-handed Shakib stroked 10 fours in a flowing 81-ball knock in nearly 2-1/4 hours hours while Mushfiqur lasted 36 balls and struck six fours.
Holder returned to gain the breakthrough, bowling Mushfiqur off the inside edge, 45 minutes before the scheduled close, and then hitting Nurul Hasan in front off the next ball.
Speedster Shannon Gabriel had Mehidy Hasan (10) caught at second slip by Devon Smith at 138 for seven before Holder claimed the prized wicket of Shakib, beating a defensive push and up-rooting the left-hander’s leg stump.
Holder wasted little time in wrapping up the innings as he claimed the last two wickets in his next over.
Earlier, Windies had been anything but stellar as their batting flopped spectacularly, undermined by the superb Shakib who claimed six for 33 with his quality left-arm spin.
Chase top-scored with 32 but was the only one to pass 20 as the Windies lost their last nine wickets for 110 runs after resuming the morning on 19 for one.
Shakib struck in the fourth over of the morning when he drew opener Smith from his crease, for Nurul to complete a well-timed stumping, and send the left-hander on his way for 16 with the score on 28.
Nightwatchman Paul scored 13 but was bowled by Shakib attempting a second successive six and left-hander Kieran Powell once again played freely for his 18 which included a four and a six before falling on the stroke of the hour, trapped lbw on the crease by the same bowler.
Hope, still searching for form and confidence, played down the wrong line in the next over to left-arm spinner Taijul Islam and perished lbw for four, leaving the Windies on 64 for five.
Chase then settled the innings down in a 33-run stand with left-hander Shimron Hetmyer who again looked in fine touch in his 18 from 31 balls.
But with lunch beckoning, Hetmyer played back to seamer Abu Jayed and was adjudged lbw, as the hosts stumbled to 108 for six at the interval.
Chase could only add a further nine to his lunch time 23 before he was bowled round his legs by off-spinner Mehidy Hasan, missing a sweep, in the fourth over after the resumption.
His dismissal triggered the slide which saw the last four wickets tumble for a mere 21 runs, with off-spinner Mehidy Hasan chipping in with two for 45.
This latter match will bowl off from 2:30pm at the National Stadium, Providence. Ticket holders will have designated seating. Ticket prices are as follows: Red Stand-$5,000, Green Stand-$5,000, Orange Stand-$3,000, Grass Mound-$2,000. Children under 12 years-old would be admitted free with the purchase of an adult ticket. Car passes-$1,000.
Senior Citizens over 60 years would be free with the presentation of a National ID at the Box office, while these tickets last.