Daraine Luton, Freelance Writer
The Jamaica Defence Force's Howard Copeland cuts on his way to a half century in their match against Trelawny at Up Park Camp yesterday. - RICARDO MAKYN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
MANCHESTER YESTERDAY became the first team to qualify for the Super Eight of the Capital and Credit Limited-Overs cricket competition after beating Portland by six wickets at Folly Oval.
But the day belonged to Odean Hutchinson who scored the second century of the competition, 104 for Police, in their 134-run win over St. Catherine Parish at Elleston Road.
At Folly, Manchester won the toss and 22 penalty runs because of a late start. They invited Portland to bat and the hosts posted 169-7 in 45 overs. However, Gary Graham, 50, and David Powell, 35 not out, made light work of the target, knocking it off with the loss of only four wickets.
The result means Manchester, with a game in hand against St. Catherine CC next weekend, stand tall atop Group C with the maximum 16 points from four games, four more than joint second-place teams St. Thomas and St. Catherine, who also improved their chances with good wins yesterday.
At Elleston Road, Police sent to bat by St. Catherine Parish, piled up 280-8 in 50 overs, thanks to Hutchinson, Dean Courtwright (57 not out) and Ricardo Howe, 40, who all came good with the bat. In reply, St. Catherine Parish could only manage 146 all out in 39 overs as Marvin James (4-39) and Rohan Belight (3-17) had things their own way. Kirk Gordon top scored for Parish with 39.
FOUR LOSSES FOR BOYS' TOWN
At Chedwin Park, St. Catherine CC handed Boys' Town their fourth consecutive defeat, effecting an emphatic nine-wicket win over the hapless visitors. The game, which ended before lunch, saw Boys' Town crumbling to 69 all out in 29.5 overs after they were sent to bat by St. Catherine.
Odean Brown (4-15) and Wayne Morgan (3-21) led with the ball for St. Catherine who replied with 75 for one off just 12.4 overs. Renford Pinnock Jnr. (39 not out) and his brother, Maurice (27 not out), compiled the runs.
At Goodyear Oval, St. Thomas beat St. Elizabeth by 40 runs after Steve Logan (4-4) and Christie Jones (2-19) combined to dismiss the visitors for just 121. St. Elizabeth were persuing 161 made by St. Thomas but even with the 37 penalty runs which they got due to a late start, St. Elizabeth still went down to a third consecutive defeat.
At Melbourne Oval, the home team (with maximum 12 points) moved to within a point of qualifying from Group D after an easy 185-run win over Kingston and St. Andrew.
KINGSTON OUT FOR 91
West Indies wicketkeeper batsman Carlton Baugh Jnr. set up Melbourne early with a 61-ball 86. He received support from Omar Allison (40) and Aubrey Wollaston (36) as Melbourne made 276-9 off 50 overs.
Kingston and St. Andrew found the going tough and were skittled out for a paltry 91 as Leon Bent (3-25), Llewelyn Meggs (2-13), Yannick Elliott (2-21) and Sheldon Smith (2-17) ensured that only three batsmen (Oraine Ebanks, 10, Oneil Green, 17, and Solomon Darby, 10) passed double figures.
At Up Park Camp, last year's beaten finalists, the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), continued to hold the reins in Group A.
A 121-run win over Trelawny kept them in charge with 12 points, same as Kingston, but they have played one less game. JDF batted first and after being four down for 66 at one stage, got up 216-7 off their 50 overs. Man-of-the-match Howard Copeland, batting at No. 8 top scored with an unbeaten 57 while Mel Wint chipped in with 24 and Omar Ellington 18, which came up off three scoring shots.
When Trelawny batted, only Phillip Service (18) offered much resistance as Copeland grabbed 4-12 and Dean Kidd 3-18.
At Nelson Oval, Kingston remained in the hunt for one of the two Group A qualification spots with a two-wicket win over Clarendon. Kingston, who moved to 12 points from four games, chased 115 made by Clarendon and got it in 35.3 overs. Nehemiah Perry was the star of that show, making the second highest score of 27 for Kingston and claiming three wickets for 17 runs.
At Kensington Oval, Daren Powell produced a fine all-round effort to help Kensington register their second win in three games, this after a five-wicket win over Hanover. Powell took 4-18 in helping to dismiss Hanover for 71 and then returned with a top score of 25 in Kensingtson's 72-5.
