Westmoreland overpowered Kensington to become the undisputed champions of the 33rd Kingston Wharves U15 Cricket competition at Ultimate Cricket Ground in Discovery Bay, St Ann, recently.

Having previously shared the championship twice in the distant past, Westmoreland became the sole holders of the title this year, winning all their matches in the preliminary round, before going all the way to the final.

Winning the championship match was not always a surety as Kensington managed to restrict Westmoreland to 115 all out in 28.4 overs and threatened the score for periods of the contest. A lengthy rain delay during Kensington’s inning also complicated matters.

The match MVP, Westmoreland’s Humario Reid, shouldered the batting when he scored 80 runs from 81 deliveries and was the only batsman to get into double figures. The bulk of the wickets went to Zachary Buchanan, who took seven for 33, while Andrew Lloyd got two for 32.

Kensington started positively but lost their first wicket at 15 and then had a steady progression of batsmen returning to the pavilion, at one point languishing on seven for 27 before a rain delay when they were in the thirties.

They returned to the crease and steadied the inning but when they lost their eight wicket on 73, the writing was on the wall. They were eventually all out for 77 in 34.4 overs and lost the match by 38 runs to Westmoreland.

Kensington’s Captain Andrew Lloyd was the main run getter with 45, while Abraham Waugh, the only other batsman to get into double figures, contributed 14 runs. The wickets were shared among Jemar Morgan, three for 12, Captain Ryan Littleton three for 23, and Davere Buchanan two for 17.

Westmoreland’s Coach Grantley Reid was, as expected, very happy with the result.

“I am [happy] because we have been here before but we had to share. The journey did not begin with this competition. Most of the boys have been to the quarter-finals but we never made it through, but I knew we had the depth to win this competition and they delivered. [I was confident] even when we were in deep trouble, because at one point Kensington made a fight of the match. They played well to come back from where they were because we thought it would have been over before they reached 50 but they fought well and they had heart. They have a young team,” said Reid.

The awards ceremony followed immediately after the match.

There were several awards including the MVP for the final — Humario Reid, the teams’ MVPs — Westmoreland’s Ryan Littleton with 13 wickets and 236 runs and Kensington’s Abraham Waugh, who bagged 21 wickets and 156 runs during the competition.

Some of the highlights recorded for this year were: four centuries (same as last year), 15 five-wicket hauls by 12 different bowlers and four batsmen scoring over 200 runs each.

Simone Murdock, corporate services and client experience manager at Kingston Wharves, was also happy with this year’s competition.

“We are glad to see a successful year come to an end. As said in the [closing] ceremony, we are finally returning to scores similar to the years before COVID so we are glad to see that we are on the right track and to celebrate with Westmoreland,” Murdock said.

The Jamaica Cricket Association’s President Dr Donovan Bennett, who watched most of the final, promised a better competition going forward based on the association’s plans to increase its investment in junior level cricket.

“We are working hard to ensure that where we were pre-COVID, that we get back there as soon as we possibly can,” he said.