All Stars and Empire Qualify To Clash in Tape Ball Grand Finals

The semifinals in the Tape ball Cricket Tournament, hosted by the Youth and Sports Department and sponsored by the development bank of St. Kitts and Nevis, ere played on the evening of Saturday 10th November, at the ET Willet Park.
In match one, All Stars won the toss and immediately sent in the SDA Jets to take first strike.
It was Venrick Newton’s night. The hard hitting right hander launched a savage attack on the All-stars bowlers and scored his first fifty of the tournament.
Skipper Curtis Morton also added a few lusty blows of his own to dent the ego of the All Stars men, as the Jets went past the 100 mark on yet another occasion.
The All Stars men in response, reacted as if they were infuriated. The first three balls from Curtis Morton Sr went for maximums from the bat of Jamie Cornelius. Then they were followed by two consecutive dropped catches and this allowed the left hander free reins, to blast his way to 50, in just 16 balls.
The Jets fielding certainly let them down in a big way and the All-stars team, went past the victory target in the 8th over.
Summarized scores: SDA Jets-115 for 4 from 10 overs: Venrick Newton 55; Curtis Morton Jr 23
Kian Pemberton 2 for 27; Akadianto Willet 1 for 9; Akito Willet 1 for 14
All Stars -116 for 2 in 7.2 overs: Jamie Cornelius 53; Tonito Willet 21*; Javani Tyson 20
Elroy Kelly 2 for 19
All Stars won by 8 wickets
Man of the match-Jamie Cornelius
In the second semifinal encounter, GT United won the toss and elected to send in the Empire team.
Empire again failed to get to the 100 mark after an impressive start by Kejel Tyson and Javia Liburd. They folded at 87 for 6 from their 10 overs.
When the GT United team batted, Alvin flourished with his innovative batting style, utilizing the scoop and the reverse sweep to great effect.
When he perished however, the GT United batting struggled and it came down to 8 runs required from the final over, bowled by Joel Simmonds and GT United could only manage 4.
Summarized scores: Empire -87 for 6 from 10 overs: Adelvin Phillip 20; Javia Liburd 17; Kejel Tyson 17
Boognarine Sharma 2 for 7; Hardyal; Newton and Bhim 1 wicket each
GT United-83 for 8 from 10 overs: Alvin Hardyal 39; Anand Bhim 18
Joel Simmonds 3 for 20; S. Merchant 2 for 8; J. Allen 1 for 22
Empire won by 4 runs
Man of the match –Joel Simmonds
The grand finals was played on Sunday 11th November.
That report will be forthcoming in the next Sports Page edition.