GOSS Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter
FRONT-RUNNERS St. Elizabeth crushed Melbourne by seven wickets to claim the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) Super Cup title at Melbourne Oval yesterday.
St. Elizabeth finished first on 35 points, nine clear of Melbourne's 26. St. Catherine, Manchester and Kingston all ended on 22. Kensington and Lucas who finished at the bottom of the tables will both be relegated.
Needing only to avoid defeat to secure the cup, St. Elizabeth, spurred on by a spectacular performance which saw them bowl out the hosts for a measly 79, before amassing a daunting first innings total of 315 runs on the first day, looked in control of the game the entire way.
"We knew what we had to come out here and do. When we played them in St. Elizabeth we won outright as well and we came out knowing that we would have to attack them from ball one and that is what we did," explained St. Elizabeth captain Ainsley Goss.
A much better fight
"They are a very dangerous team and once we got them down we decided that we were going to keep them down." Goss added.
Melbourne, who resumed yesterday on 80 without loss, put up a much better fight in their second innings as they were all out for 262, leaving the visitors needing only 26 runs for victory with hours left in the day's play.
Opening batsman Damion Henry and André McCarthy led the Melbourne charge with 54 runs each. Wayne Simpson who bagged an impressive five for 74, Goss who collected two for 36 and West Indies pacer Jerome Taylor who had second innings figures of two for 30, kept the rest of the Melbourne batting line-up quiet.
At the Allan Rae Oval: Lucas earned a first innings lead but eventually lost outright to Westmoreland. Chasing Westmoreland's 204 all out, Lucas made 218 for eight declared in their first innings with Junior McKenzie top scoring on 64. Ewan McIniss picked up five for 68. Batting again, Westmoreland were bowled out for 177, with McIniss top scoring with 50. However, in reply, Lucas were dismissed for 118, 44 runs short of Westmoreland's total. Ewan Andrews was the pick of the Westmoreland bowlers with 4 for 22.
At Kirkvine: Kensington took first innings points from hosts Manchester. Replying to Manchester's 261, Kensington made 270 all out with Wavel Hinds blasting 114 runs. Batting again, Manchester were 215 for 4 at the close of play.
At Up Park Camp: Kingston led the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) on first innings. In reply to the JDF's 174 all out, Kingston made 316 for six declared with Richard Johnson getting 103 all out. Batting a second time, the JDF, led by 60 from Chacon Chambers, made 255 all out. Needing 110 runs off 12 overs, Kingston were 90 for four when bad light stopped play.
At Bounty Hall: Defending champions St. Catherine secured an innings and 13 runs victory over Trelawny. Led by Lorenzo Ingram's 44, Trelawny were bowled out for 112 in their first innings. For St. Catherine, Odean Brown picked up five for 50 and André Russell, an impressive five for seven.
In reply, St. Catherine made 239 all out with Junior Stewart top scoring with 108. Dean Morgan provided adequate support with 60. Kemar Allen did the damage for Trelawny grabbing 6 for 49 and Rodrick Service bagged three for 65. In their second innings Trelawny tumbled from 104 for six to 114 all out.
