Setback for Queen's College

A staunch Queen's College supporter left the Cable & Wireless BET Sports Complex at 4:45 p.m. yesterday with his chest pushed high.

By the time he got to Bridgetown 15 minutes later, it would have taken a massive droop.

In the space of seven minutes, the Cable & Wireless Under-15 cricket final took a twist following a Lodge School fightback in the final moments of the day.

For four hours yesterday, Queen's College made all the running. In the last hour, however, a moment of indecision and another of indiscretion brought Lodge back into the match. If anything, they have a slight advantage on the final day.

With 50 minutes to the close, Queen's College were 124 for two in response to Lodge's 232. With 11 minutes remaining, they were 155 for three, representing a very good day's work.

Then came their big setback. Nicholas Standford, their solid opening batsman who had been firmly entrenched for more than four hours, was run out for a disciplined 61.

And just before stumps were drawn, Kofe Hurdle was adjudged to have edged a catch to the keeper off Shamarh Brooks' probing leg-breaks.

Even before those two went, Queen's College suffered a major loss when Kerwin Elias, their captain, leading run-scorer and seemingly most free-scoring batsman, fell to a rash stroke after featuring in a third-wicket stand of 73 with Standford.

The day went well up until the end of the last session when we gave away two or three wickets which we shouldn't have, said Rory Sidaway, a Queen's College official.

Standford set off for a single to mid-off, but got no response from non-striker Kofe Hurdle and failed to regain his ground when wicketkeeper Nicholas Squires broke the stumps.

If we were still two or three wickets down at the end of the day, I'd be a bit more confident about the outcome, Sidaway said. I still think we can get the 75 runs that we need, but it will be more difficult now. That's for sure.

In the first half-hour, the St James boys polished off Lodge's lower order. Lodge, 207 for six, overnight, lost their last four wickets for five runs after a seventh-wicket stand of 69 between Pierre Atwell (53) and Rio Brathwaite (31).

For the remainder of the day, Queen's College diligently pursued the target with the type of disciplined application that some local club teams should try to emulate.

Standford presented a straight, broad bat for the entire afternoon and was never drawn into playing any false strokes. He and Nekoli Parris put on 43 for the second wicket after Niaz Dokrat was bowled by fast bowler Damien King as he went into a drive.

Queen's College lost Parris just after lunch to a neat stumping by Squires off Brooks, but Standford and Elias made sure only one wicket fell in the middle session that produced only 57 runs.

Elias batted confidently and just before tea cracked two fours in an over, a rare occurrence on the day.

Lodge desperately needed a wicket and captain Squires' move to take the second new ball two overs after it was due paid dividends.

The pacy Andre Gill, operating from around the wicket, shattered the stumps of Elias, who was drawn into an inexcusable cross-batted shot.

It was a wicket that turned the tide for Lodge.