JDF march into Senior Cup final
JAMAICA Defence Force (JDF) secured first innings honours versus Kingston CC yesterday to stay on course of winning back-to-back titles in the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) two-day Senior Cup competition.
When play ended in the semi-final, JDF were 67-1 in their second innings after dismissing Kingston for 231. The soldiers had declared their first innings on a strong 308-7.
Scores: 308-7 declared & 67-1; Kingston 231.
JDF’s opponents in the final are yet to be decided. That other semi-final, which was to see parish rivals St Catherine CC and St Catherine CA clash at Chedwin Park, was postponed pending a ruling from the JCA Competitions Committee.
Kensington CC, who missed out after a no-result against St Catherine CA in last week’s rain-affected quarter-final in Ewarton, have appealed on the grounds that significant time was lost because water breached the cricket pitch.
Yesterday, the reigning champions Jamaica Defence Force resumed their first innings on 243-4 before declaring on 308-7.
Marlon Pinnock, who was on 47 runs overnight, went on to top-score with 85. Damion Grey, resuming on 39 not out, ended on 62. The pair added a game-changing 142 runs for the fifth wicket.
Sean Bennett and opener Joseph Palmer had made respective scores of 45 and 43 on Saturday’s rain-truncated opening day.
Left-arm spinner Paul Harrison grabbed 3-62 for Kingston, while pacer Boris Hutchinson claimed 2-58. Another left-arm spinner Patrick Harty ended with 1-60.
In reply, Kingston, who were edged out by JDF in last year’s final, failed to effectively counter the hosts’ bowling.
Number three batsman Abhijai Mansingh (47), opener Garth Garvey (33), Allen Roper (30) and captain Brandon King (26) all got starts, but failed to go on to big scores.
Left-arm spinner Iva Johnson led with 4-53, while pacer Leighton Leslie (3-50) and slow bowler Palmer (1-41) provided useful support.
Batting a second time, JDF’s number three batsman Rasheed Outar breezed to 41 not out and Palmer added an unbeaten 18 in their 67-1.
Medium-pacer Andre Bailey had 1-34 for Kingston.
