The Malteenoes All-Stars have now qualified for the semi-finals of the 2020 UWI-Unicom Twenty20 tournament after they thumped the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force on Tuesday. The Guyanese side will now face off against the Queens Park Cricket Club on Friday in the first semi-final at 18:00h.
Raj Nannan was Man of the Match as he bagged 5-19
In Tuesday’s match, the Defence Force won the toss and elected to bat first under slight overcast skies. The players looked poised and ready for action as the Guyanese side knew they had a point to prove if they were to defeat their Trinidadian counterparts. The Defence Force were in a spot of bother early in the innings as they were forced on the back foot, losing major wickets in the power play overs. The disciplined bowling from the Guyanese side proved too much as no player could pass the 20-run mark all thanks to the efforts of off-spinner Raj Nannan, who was ably supported by Kellon Carmichael and Anthony Adams. In the end, the Defence Force folded for a meagre 123 all out in 19.1 overs, with Keishawn Dillon making 20*, Shaquille Johnson, 18, and Dion Wells 15, leading the bowling line-up was Nannan with 5-19; Carmichael had figures of 2-14 and Anthony Adams 2-36.
The All-Stars took off in a blaze of glory as they looked to end the innings with some ease. They made the most of their power play overs and capitalised on every delivery possible. However, the rain came in over 9, thus giving the Guyanese side a revised total of 94, which was an easier target as it only took them 10 more balls to end the chase on 95-2. Top-scoring were Robin Bacchus with 31 and Trevon Griffith with 27. Wells was the only T&T bowler to bag 2-24 from his allotted four overs.
