Comet, Bajans in KFC Super Sixes ‘semis’

ALESCON COMET and CLICO Preysal have advanced from Group One to the semi-final round of the KFC Super Sixes Cricket Challenge. And Barbados Ex-Nationals and the Trinidad and Tobago Under-19 team progressed from Group Two to today’s “final four” at the Munroe Road Ground, Cunupia. In today’s “semis,” the Bajans will face Preysal at 10 am while Comet square off against the TT youth team one hour later. The third-placed playoff will begin at 1 pm followed by the final, with the winners walking away with the $20,000 first prize and a challenge trophy. The competition is a six-a-side event (played along the lines of the Hong Kong Super Sixes tournament) with each player bowling one over per innings.

Comet won all three of their matches on Friday night, at Guaracara Park, Pointe-a-Pierre, and yesterday, at Cunupia. They whipped Preysal on Friday by five wickets, scoring 74 without loss in reply to Preysal’s 70 for one. In yesterday’s action, Comet also raced to a five-wicket win over PowerGen. After dismissing their opponents for 27 in 4.1 overs, Comet responded with 32 for no wicket. And, in their final Group One fixture, Comets tallied 58 for three and later restricted Munroe Road to 32 for three. In the first match of the three-day event, Preysal eked out an eight-run triumph over PowerGen, as they held the PowerGen batsmen to 77 for one in reply to their score of 85 for three. But they lost their last two matches, by five wickets to Comet and by 13 runs to Munroe Road; Preysal were bowled out for 45 in 5.2 overs in response to Munroe Road’s 58 for three. In the other Group One match, PowerGen whipped Munroe Road by 16 runs. PowerGen raced to 78 for three and their bowlers later restricted Munroe Road to 62 for two.

Like Comet, the Barbados team, including former West Indies players Desmond Haynes, Carlisle Best and Franklyn Stephenson, were unbeaten in their three matches. On Friday, they took care of the Trinidad and Tobago Ex-Nationals by 19 runs; the TT batsmen were only able to reach 65 for four in reply to the Bajans’ 84 for three. At Munroe Road yesterday, the Barbadians got the better of the TT Under-19s by four wickets, reaching 34 for one after they dismissed the youngsters for 33 and, in the last Group Two fixture, they overcame the TT current team by three wickets, scoring 44 for two in response to the hosts’ 43 all out. The national youth team only suffered one setback, to the hands of Barbados, as they earned narrow victories over the former and current national squads on Friday night.

In their encounter against the Ex-Nationals, the Under-19 lads defended their total of 53 for one, as the veterans could only muster 49 for three while, against the present TT outfit, the youth players made 79 without loss with their opponents held to 76 for one in response. The current TT team had a comfortable 18-run win over the Ex-Nationals yesterday; the seniors were only able to make 66 for one wicket in reply to their counterparts’ 84 for three.