St. Mary defeated St Elizabeth by seven wickets (D/L) to get their hands on the Kingston Wharves U15 Cricket Competition for the first time on Thursday at Sabina Park in Kingston.
St. Elizabeth was bowled out for 113 all in 31.5 overs in the low-scoring affair. The weather then intervened and based on the Duckworth/Lewis method, St. Mary only had to make 75 in 33 overs to win the match and they duly obliged.
Five of St. Elizabeth's players got into double figures but failed to capitalize. Jayden Shaw, 14; Adrian Silvera, 12; Shaaairi Jadoo, 12; Dimitri Binns, 11; and Odane Binns, 10; were the principal scorers but they were all outdone by 36 extras conceded by St. Mary.
Jevaughny Brown took 5-33 while Tedain Noyan, 2-18 and Dijon Taylor 2-20 were decisive in support.
St Elizabeth conceded 11 extras before any of St. Mary's batsmen got a run on the board as the bowlers struggled in the damp conditions.
They would eventually concede 31, making life that much easier for St Mary’s batters.
Opener Tyreece Saunders, 12, and Jevaughny Shim, 13, led the scoring for the victors.
Jahliel Smith, Adiran Silvera and Demitri Binns each took a wicket for St Elizabeth.
St. Mary's Jevaughny Shim took home several awards; Most Wickets (23), MVP for St. Mary and final MVP for his five wickets for 33 and top score of 13.
“It’s been a very good competition, I have seen some good performances (and) I tell myself that I did well and I am looking forward to next year to start playing again," he said afterwards.
St. Elizabeth's Kevaun Brown, who scored 330 runs during the competition including a top score of 129, won the award for most runs scored. He was also named the MVP for St. Elizabeth with 16 wickets along with his 330 runs.
David Dewar, the captain of Kensington Cricket Club was the best wicketkeeper in the competition with nine dismissals that included four stumpings.
Cricket Operations Manager at the Jamaica Cricket Association Oneil Cruickshank was pleased with the running of the tournament.
"It went much better than we expected,” he said.
“The performances that we saw coming out of this competition were very heart-warming. We thought it may have been less but we saw a youngster scoring over 300 runs, one youngster taking over 23 wickets, and one young lady making a century. When we put it all together it was a fantastic tournament.”
Simone Murdock, Corporate Services and Client Experience Manager at Kingston Wharves was also pleased.
"Today's winner St. Mary is proof that we are moving the needle because it's St. Mary's first time with the trophy and we are so glad for them. We are also celebrating with St. Elizabeth who is a consistent performer," she said.