CHAMPIONS St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) will defend their Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Twenty20 Super-8 title against Cross Keys High after both won their respective semi-final encounters at Manchester High School on Saturday.

After a below-par performance with the bat, St Elizabeth Technical responded positively with the ball as they defeated Eltham High by 21 runs in the first game of the double-header.

Scores: STETHS 132-8 (20 overs); Eltham 111-8 (20 overs).

STETHS won the toss and elected to bat on a well-prepared surface which offered assistance to both the batsmen and bowlers. They were given a steady start by Odain McCatty and Romaine Morris, who reaped an opening partnership of 30 runs, before Shane Cole removed Morris for eight.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Jevoy Spence joined McCatty in the middle and the two added a further 46 for the second wicket before both fell with the score at 76. Spence made 15, while McCatty, who was the main aggressor, slammed four boundaries and a six on his way to a top score of 43.

It went downhill for the champions from there as they lost wickets at regular intervals, as captain Ramaal Lewis (13) and Michael Frew (21) were the only other batsmen to get into double figures.

Shaquille Brown was the pick of the bowlers with 3-18 from his four overs, including a rare maiden in this format of the game. He got strong support from Javion Brown who took 3-15, while Cole and Rahin Garnett took one wicket each.

Eltham’s reply almost got off to a disastrous start as Shaquille Letts offered an early chance off the first ball of the innings. They lost their first wicket when Shaquille Brown went for eight with the score at 26. This early loss spelt trouble for the batting line-up as only Ramone Francis, with a top score of 51, and Letts (23) offered any resistance.

Michael Frew ended with 4-17 and Ramaal Lewis grabbed 2-12.

Lewis lauded his bowlers for getting the job done.

“We didn’t perform well with the bat; so we knew we had to bowl tightly because the pitch is good for batting, and they did a brilliant job to hit the right spots,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Meanwhile, Oral Simpson, coach of Eltham, was left grieving his team’s performance.

“I think the second half of our bowling performance was disciplined and the early part of our batting was good; but some indiscipline kicked in and we lost our way. However, not to take anything away from STETHS, they played to their true potential and they deserved to win,” he said.

The feature game didn’t live up to expectation as Cross Keys trounced Munro College by nine wickets in a low-scoring encounter.

Scores: Munro College 89 all out (17.1 overs); Cross Keys 90-1 (12.4 overs).

After winning the toss and taking first knock, Munro College were never allowed to settle and they offered very little resistance under the pressure. Their struggle was evident inside 10 overs as they were left reeling at 51-6 before their dismal performance eventually came to an end with Marlon Johnson (27 not out) being the only batsman to figure with a double-digit score

Jaleel Meikle led the bowling attack with 3-14, supported by Captain Romario Marshall (2-2) and Jermaine Morgan (2-9).

Chasing a mere 90 runs, Cross Keys were never in danger of losing after Jermaine Morgan and Shemar Irwin rushed them to 40 without loss at the end of seven overs. Morgan played a tremendous innings on his way to 55, including seven boundaries and one six, before he held out to Devaraine Rowe in the deep.

But the damage was already done as Irwin (19 not out) and Donovan Watson (four) carried the South Manchester-based team to victory inside 13 overs. Rowe got the lone wicket for 16 runs.

Winning coach Junior Deans was delighted by the victory and applauded his team for executing accordingly.

His counterpart Tedroy Bromfield felt his team failed to prepare mentally and took the game “for granted”, having beaten Cross Keys twice.

The final will be contested next Saturday at the same venue, starting with the third-place play-off.

This year’s winning team will take home cash prize of $150,000, equipment and the coveted trophy, with the runner-up pocketing $100,000, while the third- and fourth-place finishers will collect $75,000 and $50,000, respectively.