By Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer SPANISH TOWN survived a late scare to beat Calabar by six runs to secure their first hold on the Grace Shield A League George & Branday Trophy at Melbourne Oval yesterday.
With seven runs required victory, Wayne Morgan dropped top-scorer Oniel Wright (77 not out) on the point boundary but returned the next over to trapped last man Sheldon Dixon (four) to wrap up a sweet Spanish Town victory.
Finals scores in the two-day final: Spanish Town 150 and Calabar 144.
Spanish Town coach Karl Robinson said with nine Calabar wickets down his team got a little bit relaxed but he was confident it would win.
"We started to slip up but coming down to the end we knew we had to get the last man out and we did just that," Robinson said.
Calabar, resuming on their overnight 83 for five with Oniel Wright on 34 and Carvell Williams yet to score, were in early trouble.
In the third over of the day, Williams tried to hit Iva Johnson out of the ground and was bowled for four with the score at 87 for six. However, Bryan Britton (five) and Wright took the score to 102 before Britton gave wicketkeeper Carlos Davis a regulation catch off Johnson.
Spanish Town through left-arm spinner Johnson then took charge, removing Shane Duncan and Avian Addison for nought and the Red Hills Road school was reeling at 113 for nine.
Last-man Dixon and Wright tried to repair the damage but needing just six runs for victory, captain Morgan remove the No. 11 batsman to secure victory for his team.
Johnson with five for 38 off 26 overs and Morgan with two for 40 from 20.1 overs were the pick of the bowlers for Spanish Town.
"We are going to take some time out to celebrate this victory and then look at the teams we are going to play in the semi-finals of the Premier League," Robinson said.
But needs to work harder along with spinner Johnson, Robinson added.
