Nurse what the doctor ordered for Titans
Ashley Nurse played the ultimate captain’s knock as he engineered a most miraculous come-from-behind victory for Titans over Guardians in the final preliminary round of the Bim 10 cricket extravaganza at the Windward Cricket Club.
Nurse pulled out all the stops and proved unstoppable as he smashed two boundaries and two sixes in the penultimate over to lift Titans to 105 for five off 8.3 overs – and a superb victory by five wickets with nine balls to spare.
He ended on 62 not out off 27 balls to be a shoo-in for the Man of the Match award.
In a titanic display broadcast LIVE to an audience of millions on Indian television, the Titans skipper took down fast bowler Jair McAllister with a savage display of power-hitting. The first ball of the penultimate over was chipped over midon for four and the next was clipped behind square for another four.
The third ball was hoisted over long off and beyond the sightscreen at the northern end of the ground.
The next, Nurse latched onto it and deposited it way beyond the midwicket fence for a humongous maximum – which brought a thrilling end to the day’s entertainment.
The former West Indies player and T20 World Cup winner, came in with his side at 17 for four and looking in dire straits – the target of 102 off 10 overs set by Guardians looked a long way off the horizon.
He had the perfect ally in left-hander Matthew Jones who coasted along for 24 not out off 10 balls. The pair added 70 unbroken for the sixth wicket off 24 balls in the best performance of the season.
“I chose my moment,” Nurse said. “I looked at the equation, I knew I couldn’t take any chances earlier . . . then I seized the moment when to go on an all-out attack. It was tailor-made for me and the way I play. I’m a team-player and the team needed me and I came up big.”
Superb win
In the second match, Andre Marshall and Preston McSween showed the benefit of their experience and skills as they bowled Warriors to a superb win over Voyagers in the final.
Voyagers again failed to make an impression as they
were blown away by the rampaging Warriors who eased home with a two-wicket victory with two balls to spare. It left Warriors at the top of the points table with 28. Voyagers on the other hand, were handed their eighth defeat and were left in the cellar on eight points.
After being comfortably placed at 41 for one Voyagers lost their way as they lost nine wickets for 22 runs in the space of 20 balls. The combination of Marshall and McSween produced remarkable figures of six wickets for 19 runs off 24 balls.
They were supremely accurate and produced wicket-taking balls which snuffed what little life the Voyagers had in them. Marshall, the long-standing Spartan stalwart, ended with 2-0-8-3, while McSween the left-arm seamer from Grenada, had 2-0-11-3.
Today’s semi-finals pits defending Champions Settlers versus Pelicans at midday while Warriors will oppose Titans at 2.30 all at the same venue, the Windward cricket ground, Lucas Street in beautiful St Philip.
SUMMARISED SCORES
Voyagers 63 in 10 overs (J. Greene 27; A. Marshall 3-8, P. McSween 3-11, S. Ward 2-13).
Warriors 66-8 in 9.4 overs (Z. Harewood 32 n.o; D. Currency 4-9, D. Springer 2-12).
Warriors won by 2 wickets. Guardians 101-4 in 10 overs (S. Forde 38 n.o, J. Roberts 33 n.o, R. Primus 10; D. Davis 2-19).
Titans 105-5 in 8.3 overs (A. Nurse 52 n.o, M. Jones 24 n.o; G. Austin 2-10, S. Cumberbatch 2-18).
Titans won by 5 wickets.
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