Jermaine Lannaman, Sunday Gleaner Writer

Title holders St Catherine CC made a winning start to their defence of the Jamaica Twenty20 Championship with a commanding 74-run win over Portmore in the feature game of a double-header at G.C. Foster yesterday.

Batting first, St Catherine CC posted a competitive 147 for seven off their allotted overs, and in reply, Portmore could only muster 69.

Leading the way for St Catherine was Junior Stewart, who slammed 44, and Bevon Brown, who, returning from a foot injury, claimed two for seven.

Captain Tamar Lambert, who made 22, said he was happy with the fact that his team made a winning start, and was looking forward to their second game against G.C. Foster today.

'A good match for us'

"It was a good match for us overall," he said. "We started off well before faltering a bit in the middle overs, but in the end recovered to post a respectable total."

The second game at the venue, Boys' Town versus G.C. Foster, saw the latter coming out on top by 65 runs.

Sent in to bat, G.C. Foster first posted 139 for eight with Rajive Chatrie getting 42 and Phillip Pinnock 30 against Albert Rose, 2-21.

Boys' Town, in response, were bowled out for 74 off 14.3 overs with Pete Salmon claiming three for 10, and André Gordon, three for 27.

The feature game of the round, between two-day champions Melbourne and reigning 50-over champions, Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) at Maxfield Park, saw the soldiers coming out on top by four wickets.

Melbourne, after winning the toss and electing to bat, posted 132 for eight with Tarique White making 24 and Damion Jacobs 16, against Damian Gray two for 25.

JDF, led by Mark Gray 52 and Mel Wint 32 not out, then achieved their target at 134 for six with four balls to spare.

In other results, St Mary defeated Mico by nine wickets, UTech got the better of St Ann by 57 runs, Trelawny beat St James by seven wickets, and the game between Hanover and Westmoreland was abandoned because of rain.

Manchester overcame the challenge of St Catherine CA by 110 runs, Kensington beat Lucas by 10 wickets, Police scored a 43-run win over St Thomas, while Kingston and St Andrew CA edged Kingston by three runs.