Melbourne, St Elizabeth gear up for showdown

Jermaine Lannaman,
Gleaner Writer

Batting all-rounder Yannick Elliot and national youth leg-spinner Donovan Nelson were in spanking form last weekend as they guided their respective teams, Melbourne and St Elizabeth, into the final of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) all-island Junior Cup final.

The 23-year-old Elliot, who represented Jamaica in two one-dayers in 2008 but has since fallen off the radar due to poor performances in domestic competitions, claimed five for 64 and three for 16 to guide Melbourne to an innings and 12 runs win over St Catherine Cricket Club in the final of the urban area competition at Kensington Park.

Batting first, Melbourne posted 362 with Tafari Williams getting 93 and Ryan Strachan and Jowayne Robinson 66 each against Dean Morgan, 3-108.

St Catherine CC, in reply, made 195. Forced to follow on, they were bowled out for 156. Morgan, 117, topscored in their first innings, and Junior Stewart, 36, and Garth Garvey, 34, in their second innings.

"Our performance was excellent as we have gone unbeaten for the entire season. We have won all our matches outright and most of them by an innings or more," said Melbourne's manager, Donald McNaughton.

Determination

"We have coming up the all-island Junior Cup final and we are going there with the determination to continue our winning momentum," he added.

In the rural area equivalent, Nelson, a former national Under-15 and Under-17 representative, who is expected to play a key part in Jamaica's defence of their regional Under-19 double, bagged 3-46 and scored 21 as his team defeated the St Catherine Cricket Association by nine wickets at Chedwin Park.

St Catherine CA batted first and made 166 with Errol Downer, 38, emerging their top scorer.

St Elizabeth, in their response, tallied 206 with Paul Palmer Jr. getting 87 against Terrence Brown, 3-1.

Batting a second time, St Catherine were bundled out for 77. Set 37 for victory, St Elizabeth cruised to 40-1.

"We have been using 95 percent schoolboys and they showed a level of maturity by playing some good, high level cricket, especially when they were in the field," said St Elizabeth coach, Clive Ledgister.

The final will be played this weekend at Kensington.