Old Harbour Blow away Content Gardens

• Chief destroyer Royal bags five for 13

Richard Bryan, Gleaner Writer

Old Harbour are the 2011 SDC National Community 20/20 cric-ket champions, after outclassing Content Gardens by 50 runs in the grand final at Alpart yesterday.

They won a whopping 750,000 dollars for their efforts, while a disappointed Content Gardens team walked away again for the second time in three years as runners-up, collecting a healthy $400,000.

An earlier third place play-off yielded $200,000 for Waltham Park Police Youth Club, which defeated Race Course of Clarendon ($100,000) by 11 runs.

Most interest appeared to have revolved around West Indies Test and one-day all-rounder André Russell, who had made back-to-back centuries in the quarter-final and semi-final matches in St Ann.

Despite a rare failure by Russell, who made just six runs from 18 balls, Old Harbour posted 122 on a difficult Alpart wicket and knocked over the St Ann team for 72 in 17 overs.

Andrew Davis' 32 and Ronville Brown's 13 were the best individual scores on a wicket which created problems for big hitters.

However, from the time Pete Salmon snared the big fish in towering pinch-hitter Howard Harris for one in the second over with the score on three, Old Harbour smelled victory.

Fatally undermined

Content Gardens' innings was further strangled by Russell, whose first three overs yielded no wickets but a mere three runs. They were fatally undermined by medium pacer Deron Royal, who had amazing figures of five for 13 off four overs.

In fact, Content Gardens never packed a punch, mining a mere 20 runs in their first 10 overs and it was left to the last pair of Patrick Harty (17) and Junior Carr (16) to steer them away from utter embarrassment.