A blistering century from Rose Hall Town Bakewell captain, Kevin Sinclair handed his side the Berbice Cricket Board/New Building Society 40 overs second division title after an 80-run win over D’Edward Sports Club in the final on Sunday at the Albion Sports Complex ground.
D’Edward, after winning the toss, invited Bakewell to bat first and they raced to 212-9 from their allotted overs. In reply, D’Edward stumbled to 140 all out in 34.2 overs.
Sinclair smashed 119 with 11 boundaries, three of which were hammered off of Keith Simpson in one over before he was run out attempting a third run.
The national youth player and his cousin, Junior Sinclair forged a 131-run opening partnership.
Junior Sinclair contributed a compact 43, highlighted by sharp running between the wickets and two boundaries before holding out to mid-wicket.
Junior Cricketer-of-the-Year, Kevin Sinclair, went on to partner with Surendra Kissoonlall (25) as the second wicket stand accounted for 59 runs.
Fraser returned and halted Bakewell’s march by removing Kissoonlall and Jonathan Rampersaud (2) in the same over to finish with 2-30.
Off-spinner, Eon Abel then rocked the lower order with the wickets of Sylus Tyndall and Keith Simpson off of successive deliveries to end with 2-18 while fellow off-spinner, Romesh Boodram chipped in with 2-23.
In pursuit of the par target, Altaf Khan stroked 52, decorated with five boundaries but found little support from the rest of the batting order.
Khan shared an opening stand of 41 with Lakeraj Sookra and a fourth-wicket partnership worth 57 with Deinanauth Persaud (39) but no other batsman managed double figures.
Junior Sinclair returned with his off-spin to bag 4-30 including the wickets of Khan and Devindra Lalsa who were both caught and bowled off of successive deliveries.
Kevin Sinclair capped a good all-round performance by taking 2-28 with his off-spin while Rampersaud and Simpson took one wicket each.
After the match, Sinclair explained to this publication that it was a good feeling for him to lead from the front and see his team win as he reflected on the importance of scoring a century when it mattered most.
The young captain credited the efforts of Junior Sinclair and the opposition for their sturdy performance in the final.
Berbice Cricket Board President, Hilbert Foster hailed the tournament’s “resounding success” after attracting over 80 teams and being completed within one year of it’s launching.
