WI local: Foundation do it again

Foundation are the CIBC Schools' League champions once again.

But their nail-biting victory over Combermere in yesterday's final was marred by a proliferation of errors in the scorebooks.

The team from Church Hill, Christ Church, won a heart-stopper by two wickets with three balls to spare, but officials could not confirm the result until several minutes after the final ball at Queen's Park.

Even so, additional checks by NATIONSPORT showed that there were still glaring mistakes and inconsistencies in both scorebooks which were handled by schoolboys.

Foundation, set what they believed was a target of 185, must thank big-hitting left-hander Nicholas Brathwaite for their repeat triumph.

He delivered the most crucial blow of the match when ten runs were needed at the start of the final over with only two wickets left.

Combermere, their options limited, turned to the innocuous mediumpacers of Kirk Payne, whose five previous overs yielded 28 runs, to deliver the final six balls.

From the first, Brathwaite launched him for a massive six over midwicket.

From the third ball, which came off the inside edge, the winning boundary was achieved on a misfield by substitute Pedro Greaves at fine-leg.

Foundation players and supporters raced onto the field to hail their hero, but it was soon pointed out that the scores appeared to be equal when the batting was tallied.

The bowling analysis did not match the batting, however.

After further inspections, it was dis-covered that Combermere were credited with an additional run in the batting.

In the end, neither scorebook could produce figures that tallied.

Afterwards, both coaches, Foundation's Denis Osbourne and Combermere's Roddy Estwick, admitted errors were made.

'Anybody will tell you that with schoolboys scoring, there will be mistakes,' Osbourne said.

'This game was no exception. There were mistakes on both sides.'

The miscalculations extended on to the field.

Jamal Forde, Foun-dation's most heralded bowler, was allowed to send down nine overs, one more than his allotment.

During the interval between innings, Estwick queried if any of his bowlers could be allowed a similar number of overs.

'Everything seemed to be going against Combermere,' Estwick said.

'I don't want to sound bitter but people in charge of the game have to be a little bit stronger.

'They have to stay in closer control and not allow the game to drift.'

In the end, Estwick was gracious in defeat and ruled out the possibility of a protest.

'It was a good game. Congratulations to Foundation. Cricket was the winner,' he said.

Osbourne recognised the contribution of his entire unit, but had a extra word on Brathwaite, whose unbeaten 26 came after Foundation were up against it on 160 for eight.

It was even more tense when 21 runs were needed from the last three overs and 13 fom the last two.

'It was a good all-round team performance down the line,' Osbourne said. 'In the last two overs, things were in Combermere's favour, but Brathwaite came good at a very crucial time.

It was his first game of the season and he made it count in the end.'

With the type of start Foundation made, it was somewhat of a surprise that the match produced such a close finish.

Consistent left-hander opener Eric Batson (41) and captain Damien Maynard (36) were moving merrily along in a third-wicket stand that lifted Foundation to 92 for two in the 16th over.

Both were run out when well set and although Ryan Wiggins looked assured in his innings of 37, Combermere took the advantage with offspinner Stephen Bennett's three wickets until Brathwaite had the final say.

Combermere, themselves, collapsed after reaching 98 for two at the half-way stage of their innings.

Man Of The Match Wiggins took the important wickets of opener Joel Leacock (45) and Barbados youth team selectee Marlon Clarke in successive balls.

But fellow off-spinner Jason Ward enjoyed the better figures of four for 34. Among his scalps were captain Rohan Nurse (49) and the bighitting Khalid Springer, both caught off full tosses.