Related items

• Mount Pleasant, Cavalier to decide JPL final on June 11, following semi-final victories over Arnett Gardens, H'View

  Mount Pleasant Football Academy and Cavalier Football Club will meet in this season’s Jamaica Premier League (JPL) final, following victories over Arnett Gardens and dethroned champions Harbour View in their respective second-leg semi-final encounters at Sabina Park on Sunday.

  The St Ann-based Mount Pleasant FA, which was formed in 2016 and earned promotion to the nation’s top-flight league in 2018, got by Arnett Gardens 3-1 for a 5-3 aggregate win to secure their spot in the JPL showpiece for the first time, while 2021 champions Cavalier blanked Harbour View 2-0 for a 3-0 aggregate scoreline.

  Trivante Stewart with goals in the 33rd and 40th minutes, that took his tally to 18 this season, and one Shande James (86^th), got the job done for Mount Pleasant, after Deandre Cunningham gave Arnett Gardens a 15th-minute lead.

  Meanwhile, Collin Anderson (12th and 57th) got both goals for Cavalier against Harbour View, to regain top spot as the league’s leading scorer with 19 goals.

  After playing out an entertaining 2-2 stalemate in first-leg action last week, Mount Pleasant and Arnett Gardens wasted little time to pick up from where they left off.

  While the Theodore “Tappa” Whitmore-coached Mount Pleasant dominated proceedings, it was the Paul “Tegat” Davis-conditioned Arnett Gardens that drew first blood, against the run of play. 

  Cunningham picked up a pass from Rushike Kelson and rifled a right-footer past Shaquan Davis in goal for Mount Pleasant.

  Given the nature of the game, it was almost certain that Mount Pleasant would hit back and that they did three minutes past the half-hour mark when Stewart muscled his way past a defender to fire past Eric Edwards.

  And Mount Pleasant broke the deadlock seven minutes later when Stewart with a deft first touch, created space to turn and drive a well-struck effort that gave Edwards no chance at a save. 

  The momentum stuck with Mount Pleasant on the resumption, and they should have extended their lead in the 71st but Devonte Campbell, who had time and space in the 18-yard box to pick a spot, failed to finish off a good team build up.

  Try as they did, Arnett Gardens had no response to the quality displayed by Mount Pleasant on the day, and almost as if throwing salt in their wounds, it was a former “Junglists” James that capped the win with a tidy finish from just inside the arc.

   Winning coach Whitmore lauded the character shown by his team in executing accordingly.

   “We were totally in control of the game; we managed the game very well the opponents scored on us but the team showed character and guts and went on to win it. We played this Arnett Gardens team four times, so we looked at their threats and we nullified that, it is just about going into the final now to deliver a title to our owner,” Whitmore said.

  His counterpart Davis admitted that they were outclassed.

  “They just played a better game than us and they won. We just didn’t come out and play, they were quicker to the ball, their ball movements were better, and they won,” Davis declared.

  Cavalier entered their second leg contest with a 1-0 lead over Harbour View and given the defensive nature of both teams, not many goals were expected on this occasion. 

  With Harbour View pressing to play catch up, Cavalier capitalized and pushed further ahead when Anderson rose above defender to head home Adrian Reid’s weighted cross. 

  With the scoreline unchanged at the break, Harbour View came out more purposeful after the interval and almost pulled on back, but Vino Barclett got down well to his right, to keep out Colorado Murray’s 56^th-minute effort from a distance. 

  But Cavalier responded a minute late with a brisk counterattack that saw Shaneil Thomas playing Anderson through on goal, and the striker sporting the number nine jersey, dismissed his marker, before driving past Romario Palma in goal for Harbour View.

  Harbour View tried to play their game in an attempt to overturn the deficit, but it was not to be as they found Cavaliers defenders in defiant mode.

• Somerset stay perfect in T20 Blast while Sue Redfern makes history at Bristol

  Somerset maintained their 100 per cent Vitality Blast record with victory over Essex, while Sue Redfern became the first female umpire to officiate on-field in the competition in Gloucestershire’s win over Middlesex.

  Matt Henry and Ben Green took three wickets each as Somerset defended a seemingly under-par score to triumph by 11 runs at Taunton.

  The hosts could muster only 150 all out in their sixth contest under cloudless skies on a pitch that looked full of runs. Sean Dickson top-scored with 42 on his T20 debut for the club, while Daniel Sams claimed four wickets for 20.

  In reply, Essex slumped from 130 for six to 139 all out after Michael Pepper’s 63 off 43 balls, Henry finishing with three for 17 and Green taking his wicket tally in the competition to 14 with three for 24.

  Redfern wrote her name into the history books as she stood along with Alex Wharf at Bristol, where all-rounder Ollie Price led the way for Gloucestershire.

  The 21-year-old top-scored with 46 and shared in crucial partnerships of 60 with Miles Hammond and 52 with Zafar Gohar as the hosts chased down a target of 140 with 10 balls to spare to register their second triumph in three days.

  Surrey beat Kent by five wickets after a nerve-shredding run chase at Canterbury that went all the way to the final ball.

  The visitors seemed to be cruising to their target of 174 after Laurie Evans hit 52, but a cluster of wickets kept the Spitfires in contention until Jamie Smith and Sean Abbott took charge.

  Michael Hogan was left to defend nine off the final over but Surrey tied the scores with one ball remaining and Jack Leaning just failed to cling on to a thunderous hit from Smith off the last delivery.

  It was a disappointing afternoon for Worcestershire, whose unbeaten start was brought to an end by Northamptonshire, who triumphed by six wickets at New Road.

  Worcestershire had been bidding to win their opening five games in the tournament for the first time, but Steelbacks spinner Freddie Heldreich bowled an inspired spell which brought him the wickets of Adam Hose, Brett D’Oliveira and Kashif Ali in the space of three overs.

  Then Saif Zaib (70 not out from 35 balls)  produced the fireworks with the bat for the visitors, smashing successive sixes in the final over from Pat Brown to see his side home with two balls to spare.

  Derbyshire’s Wayne Madsen nearly achieved a global milestone but fell six runs short of becoming the first man in T20 history to score six successive fifties as his side were comfortably beaten by seven wickets by a revitalised Yorkshire at Headingley.

  Madsen’s 44 off 26 in the Falcons’ 166 for eight batting first meant he remains one of just seven players worldwide to have scored five fifties in a row in this format.

  England batter Dawid Malan then starred in the chase with a superb 81 not out off 57 balls, with Yorkshire winning with 10 deliveries to spare.

  Leicestershire ended a five-game losing run to secure their first win of the campaign, beating Durham by seven wickets at Seat Unique Riverside.

  Josh Hull was the star with the ball in just his second game for the Foxes, claiming three wickets for 35 to help limit the home side to 168 for nine from their 20 overs.

  Nottinghamshire put themselves back on course for the quarter-finals with a second win inside 24 hours as Matt Carter’s three wickets set up a five-wicket win over Lancashire.

  The off-spinner bounced back from conceding 57 in four wicketless overs in the victory over Birmingham Bears on Saturday evening with figures of three for 26 as the home side won with seven balls to spare at Trent Bridge.

  Glamorgan made it four wins out of five as they beat Sussex by 32 runs at the 1st Central County Ground.

  The Sharks, chasing a huge victory target of 220, never looked in the contest despite a plucky innings from Tom Alsop, who scored 58 from 41 deliveries, and slumped to a third straight defeat.

• Player of the Match Brandon King scores maiden ODI century as Windies cruise to seven-wicket win over UAE

  Brandon King scored his maiden ODI century to lead the West Indies cruised to a comprehensive seven-wicket win over the United Arab Emirates with 88 balls to spare in the opening match of their three-match series at Sharjah on Sunday.

  Captain Shai Hope showered praised on his bowlers for the clinical execution in the lop-sided victory.

  “There was no hurry. They all bowled well, I can't single out too many, and I was happy with the execution,” he said. “Nice to see Hodge play in West Indies colours now and hopefully we can continue. I don't think there were devils in the surface but credit needs to be given to the bowlers.”

  He reserved special praise for the Player of the Match.

  “King is an exceptional player and someone who I thought would've scored a lot more runs early in his career. But happy for him. He saw the opportunity to take the game forward and happy to see him get his first hundred today,” said Hope who collected the award for King, who was suffering from cramps.

  Set a target of 203, King scored a run-a-ball 112 to guide the West Indies to 206-3 from 35.2 overs in the day/night encounter. He was the last man out with the West Indies 10 runs shy of their target.

  King shared in an opening stand of 48 with Johnson Charles that ended when Charles bowled for 24 while going for a big shot off Zahoor Khan delivery that cut back to hit his off stump for 24.

   A 91-run second wicket partnership followed between King and Shamarh Brooks, who rode his luck before he was eventually trapped lbw by Aayan Azfal Khan for 44. King, who was dropped on 52, then took the match away from the hosts with a 54-run partnership with Keacy Carty before being last man out, caught behind off the bowling of Rohan Mustafa.

  King’s knock included 12 fours and four sixes, three of which came in the 34^th over bowled by Karthik Meiyappan.  The second of those sixes took King from 96 to his first ODI century.

  Captain Shai Hope replaced him and quickly ended proceedings with consecutive sixes off Karthik Meiyappan to end on 13 not out from just four balls. Carty was on seven from 19 balls when the match ended in the 36^th over.

  UAE won the toss and chose to bat and were restricted to 202 all out in 47.1 overs. Ali Naseer scored a useful 58 from 52 balls and Vriitya Aravind, a contrasting 40 from 77 balls. Asif Khan also contributed 27 against the West Indies attack led by Keemo Paul, who took 3-34.

  Dominic Drakes took 2-29, Yanic Cariah weighed in with 2-26 and Odean Smith 2-40.