Excelsior High Head Coach Kirkland Bailey praised his team after they swept aside Manchester High by 185 runs in the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association all-island Spalding Cup play-off cricket match at Melbourne Oval on Wednesday.

Chasing 403 runs for a highly improbable victory, Manchester were bowled out for 217 just before the close on the second day of the scheduled three-day encounter.

Scores: Excelsior 218 and 255; Manchester 71 and 217

Bailey said his players set the platform once they had secured a 147-run, first-innings lead on Tuesday.

“I think overall the Excelsior boys really came out with all guns blazing and have delivered under pressure. My boys came out with the bat and set the tone from yesterday [and] I think it pushed back Manchester and they were kind of in awe. And when we wrapped them up quickly for 71 [in the first innings] it really put the cat amongst the pigeons,” he said during a post-match interview.

“Asking them to get [over] 400 [runs]… with the bowling we have we knew we just had to be patient, take the catches when they presented themselves and we’d win at the end of the day. Manchester is a quality team even though we got them out for 71… they have good batters in their line-up,” the Excelsior coached added.

Manchester High Coach Burtram “Barry” Barnes credited his team for mounting a second-innings batting fightback but conceded Excelsior were better throughout the match.

“I know the task was very hard but we were not going to lie down and play dead,” he said.

“Kudos to Excelsior, I think they were the better team and they played extremely well. I think they won from the very first day when they got that total and got us out for a [small score],” Barnes told journalists.

Excelsior High, the urban area Grace Shield champions, began Wednesday from their overnight score of 82-4, an overall lead of 229 runs after they had secured a sizeable 147-run first-innings advantage on the opening day.

They progressed to 255 all out with captain Michael Clarke, batting at seven, making a top score of 58.

His opposite number Brian Barnes took 4-55 for Manchester, while Barrington Simpson grabbed 3-49.

Pajay Nelson top-scored with a 38-ball 68 against Demarco Scott (4-59) and Clarke (4-64). Scott and Clarke ended with eight wickets each in the match.

– Sanjay Myers