Cunningham KINGSTON assumed sole leadership of the Rothmans Surrey Senior Cup yesterday when they defeated Portland by eight wickets at Sabina Park in the competition's ninth round.
Led by pacer Dwight Mais' match haul of nine for 66, Kingston won the match at approximately 2:30 p.m., thus avoiding rain which engulfed the Corporate Area later in the afternoon.
The rain disrupted the feature match between Jamaica Defence Force and defending champions Melbourne at Up Park Camp, curtailing play at the tea interval, but not before Melbourne gained first innings points.
At Chedwin Park, the key match between St. Catherine and Lucas was affected by rain on both days and was declared a no result.
Meanwhile, home team Kensington defeated Boys' Town by eight wickets in mid-afternoon, just missing the showers. And at Goodyear Oval, St. Thomas defeated Tivoli by 106 runs.
The points standings after nine rounds show: Kingston on top with 34 from eight matches, Melbourne 31 from eight, Kensington 29 from nine, Lucas 28 from eight, JDF 22 from eight, St. Catherine 19 from eight, St. Thomas 19 but from nine matches, Police who drew a bye over the weekend, 16 from eight with the rest well behind.
AT UP PARK CAMP: Scores - Jamaica Defence Force 212 and 40 for two when the showers arrived; Melbourne 315 all out.
Melbourne, resuming at 149 for two, saw both overnight batsmen losing their wickets in their 80s. Aubrey Wollaston, who was 68 overnight, fell for 86 with 13 fours and a six, while Meggs (44 overnight) made 81, including six fours.
Ray Stewart and Ramon Hutchinson made 28 each, while Nikita Miller chipped in with 26 and Robert Samuels, 24. Howard Copeland claimed three for 94, Warren Medwinter two for 13 and Anthony Folkes two for 24.
AT KENSINGTON PARK: An undefeated half century from West Indies Youth captain Brenton Parchment led Kensington to an eight-wicket win over Boys' Town.
Scores: Boys' Town 152 and 100; Kensington 172 and 81 for two.
Resuming on their overnight score of 150 for seven, needing another three runs to gain first innings points, Kensington's last three batsmen took their team to a 20-run first innings lead. Phillip Keating took four for 53 off 19 overs and Herbert Haye two for 46 from 19 overs.
Boys' Town trailing by 20-run on first innings, continued their dismal batting performance in their second innings and were bowled out for 100. Vere schoolboy, Dexroy Mendez, 17, Andrew Allen 16 and Jonathan Smith 15 offered token resistance, as Jamaica fast bowler Darren Powell claimed two for 12 from nine overs to finish with a match haul of six for 55. Rashard Marshall claimed two for 22 off nine overs and Peter Colquhoun two for 17 from 11 overs.
Needing 81 runs for victory, Kensington lost the wickets of Glenmore Hall (0), leg before wicket to Phillip Keating and in-form batsman Maurice Kepple (3) also went in similar fashion to the same bowler. Not out batsmen Parchment (52) and David Bernard Jr. (26) saw their team home without further lost. Captain Phillip Keating finished with two for 13 off his seven overs.
AT SABINA PARK: Former Jamaica pacer, Dwight Mais, had match figures of nine for 66 to led Kingston to a eight-wicket win over Portland.
Scores: Portland 118 and 125; Kingston 180 and 64 for two.
Portland in their second innings were bowled out for 125. They were unable to withstand the bowling of Mais who picked up four for 35 and National legspinner Ryan Cunningham, three for 18 for a match haul of seven for 55.
Set a small target of 64 for victory, Kingston, playing without former West Indies captain Jimmy Adams and Nehemiah Perry, raced to 64 for two. Nicholas Austin led the way with an unbeaten 40.
AT CHEDWIN PARK: Both teams shared one point each due to bad weather. Scores: St. Catherine 119 all out (Bevan Brown 40; Gary Herbine claiming four wickets). Lucas 64 for six, Oneil Richards taking three wickets).
AT GOODYEAR OVAL: Match figures of seven for 51 from Dennis Gordon piloted St. Thomas to a convincing 106-run win over Tivoli. Scores - St. Thomas 221 and 171 for six, Tivoli 167 and 119.
Resuming on the second day at 134 for seven, Tivoli added a further 33 runs before being bowled out as Ralston Williams made 50; Rohan McNaught took three for 14, Dennis Gordon 3-30 and Bryan Murphy 2-33.
With first innings advantage St. Thomas set Tivoli 225 having declared at 171 for six, with Bryan Murphy 67, Samuel Leslie 34 and Dennis Gordon 28 making most runs. Orian Housen claimed two for 38. When Tivoli replied only Shaneil Francis 33 and Orlando Minott 15 offered some resistance against Dennis Gordon 4-21, Bryan Murphy 2-31 and Kevin Murray 2-16.
