TROY Williams’ unbeaten 85 steered Williams Town past Good Hope on a faster run rate in the Raymond Pryce/INSPORTS North East St Elizabeth T20 community cricket league at Abraham Community field on Sunday.

Good Hope batted first and rattled up a respectable 175-4 off their allotted 20 overs. Kasson Mills led the batting with an attractive 66 not out.

In reply, Williams reached 135-4 from 11 overs, with Williams scoring 85 not out, to win on a faster run rate.

Abraham was awarded maximum points after Northampton failed to show for their encounter in the second match scheduled at the venue.

The competition continues this Sunday with two games scheduled for Foster Youth Community Centre. Schoolfield will play Goshen at 11:00 and Burn Savannah face Foster Youth Cricket Club at 2:00 pm.

Meanwhile, 12 teams are drawn into two groups, with the top two qualifying for the semi-finals to be played on March 10 next year.

The competition is organised by the Institute of Sports (INSPORTS), an agency of the Ministry of Sport.

According to Member of Parliament for the constituency, Raymond Pryce, the competition forms part of the programme geared at advancing the social and economic well-being of the constituents.

“What we are trying to do is to give everybody an opportunity to be involved in the process,” said Pryce. “As the old saying goes, ‘the devil finds time for idle hands’, and we want to ensure that especially the young… are occupied in constructive work…”

Financial incentives will be presented on the completion of the competition, with the champions to collect $50,000 and the winning trophy. The runners-up will pocket $30,000, third place $20,000 and fourth, $10,000.

Individual prize monies will be awarded to the most valuable player who will receive $8,000; most wickets, $5,000; most runs, $5,000, and a trophy to be presented to the most disciplined team.

So far, 180 players are participating from 12 teams, with 15 players representing each team.