WI local: Empire easily rip YMPC apart

Mike Inniss was explosive; Jason Haynes was the ideal foil; and in the end, ICB Empire maintained their 100 per cent winning record by completing a comfortable victory over Caribbean Lumber YMPC yesterday.

The contrasting left-handed openers put on 128 with little bother to set the stage for a come-from behind victory after the home team conceded first innings lead by 69.

'We were never worried. We just stuck to our game plan and we knew we would come through,' said new Empire coach Geoffrey Mapp.

'We are focussing on team development, and moreso, how we are going to plan our games. We have to look at the opposition, know their strengths and their weaknesses and play the cricket to suit. That is why we came back and won this game.'

Once YMPC's last wicket pair was unable to further frustrate Empire, the home team moved merrily along towards a target of 177 in a minimum of 53 overs.

It was reached with as many as 9.3 overs to spare, largely due to Inniss' calculated aggression.

The former Barbados representative lashed 85 off 93 balls with the help of 11 threes and four fours in the direction of mid-wicket.

The first two were hoisted in one over off Wendell Coppin's off-spin. When captain William Lashley replaced Coppin, he, too, was lifted over the wall and the last of Inniss' fours came in an eventful over from occasional medium-pacer Leon Layne.

In the same over, Inniss was caught off a no-ball, but Layne had the final say when he bowled the batsman as he attempted an ambitious stroke.

Empire also lost Shawn Graham to a catch at mid-off, but when captain Roland Holder joined Haynes at 147 for two, the result was known.

Haynes, who finished unbeaten on 63 off 114 balls, was quiet during Inniss' onslaught, but he also showed some aggression and his most memorable shot was a straight hit off Layne that landed on the sightscreen at the far end of the ground.