By Samuel Peters
All roads led to the Dredgers Cricket Club on Tuesday evening where the previously unbeaten Pelican Safari VIP were soundly beaten by the home side Dredgers, losing by seven wickets in the T10 Tape Ball League.
For the second time in three days, the side filled with youthful energy was humbled by the Dredgers team.
Batting first was the VIP team who set the Dredgers side a target of 93 for 8 from their allotted 10 overs. Michael ‘Monkey Man’ Dover top-scored with 28.
The pick of the bowlers was Glenton Williams with two wickets for five runs, while Kerry Mentore had two for 16 from his two overs as well.
Melvin Charles (33) laid into one of the best tape ball bowlers on the circuit, Shaquan Reifer, hitting him for three consecutive boundaries in the first over to get the home side off and running.
Mervin Higgins was then bowled by Kadeem ‘Leggie’ Josiah in the third over which brought out the Dredgers contracted hitman, D’ahri Hughes-Francis.
With the score at 29 for 1 after three overs, Michael Marcellin bowled an excellent over to pull things back in the fourth over
However, VIP did their homework and made sure not to become easy targets by keeping him subdued.
He only managed one run from his short stay before he was bowled by Marcellin in the fourth over.
The game was evenly poised with Dredgers 45 for two from 5 overs, but a bout of madness then took over in the sixth over bowled by Marcellin as both teams became embroiled in a heated exchange of words.
It is alleged that a Marcellin delivery bowled to an advancing Kerry Mentore ended up going through to the keeper, who then returned the ball back to the bowler.
The bowler then made an attempt to run Mentore out as he did not make his ground. However, the bowler missed the stumps completely and it resulted in four over throws.
The umpire was adamant that the ball was not a dead ball, but the VIP team were equally certain the ball was dead. But the rule book states, all decisions are made final by the umpire.
After the 15-20 minute break in play, an unfocused Marcellin resumed his spell and was just erratic in his approach compared to his previous over.
A total of 23 runs came out of his over which included wides, no balls and boundaries. Dredgers eventually got to the target with three overs to spare.
Presentation of Awards saw Melvin Charles chosen as the Tournament MVP, Glenton Williams and Kadeem Josiah tied with Most Wickets (10), Melvin Charles had the Most Runs (238), Highest Individual Score was won by Demetri Lucas (74) and Best Bowling Figures to Egbert Phillip (5 for 5).