Ajuba, Belfongo in Masters final

The battle lines have been drawn and the countdown for the inaugural Masters Cricket tournament is racing to zero.

The finalists are Ajuba and Belfongo and they square off for the $1200 first prize at Buccament Sunday September 3 at 1:30 pm. They secured their spots last Sunday.

Ajuba beat Kingstown by 16 runs, and Belfongo made light work of Mr. Cool Veterans winning by 61 runs.{{more}}

Ajuba scored 136 for 7 from their 20 overs. David Porter/Ellis hit a top score of 46, supported by Man of the match Conroy Ryan 27.

Ryan returned with 2 for 18 to seal the award.

Gary Rodriquez 3 for 17 was the pick of the Kingstown bowlers.

Colbert McDonald, as one of the nation’s emerging umpires, shed the coat for playing gear and hit 33 for Kingstown. Leniff Patterson 2 for 17 and Gemel Jeffrey 2 for 16 were also among the wickets for Ajuba.

Things were not so cool for Mr. Cool Masters in their semifinal clash. They succumbed for 88 in 17.3 overs. Orville Franklyn 22 was the only batsman to give any resistance.

That was far short of Belfongo’s 149 for 7 from their 20 overs. Junior Bacchus 38, Sylvanus Morgan 26 and Curtis King 20 not out did most of the scoring for Belfongo. Morgan returned with 3 for 8 to claim the Man of the match.

Mr. Cool progressed to the semifinal with a 17 run win over Stubbs also at Buccament the previous day. Cool Veterans fell for 87 in 19.1 overs. Kenneth Lewis 22 was the top scorer for Cool Veterans in an innings, which saw six batsmen, run out.

Colin Shoy named Man of the match, routed the Stubbs batting with figures of 5 for 13, as Stubbs fell for 70 in 15 overs. Stubbs seemed on course at one stage after Samuel Richards 22 hit three sixes in one over to propel his team to within distance.

Eleven teams in two zones were registered for the title. The Masters tournament emerged from a quadrangular tournament involving Mr. Cool Veterans, Ajuba, Barrouallie and Arnos Vale. Arnos Vale won that championship.