Eleven-year-old Gayon Burrows blew the Commercial League title race wide open as he guided North Village to a stunning win over Forties at the weekend.

The little tailender placed a Randy Simmons delivery wide of the slips as nine-man Village squeezed home by the narrowest of margains.

It was a day for Village's young stars to shine with 13-year-old Dejon Benjamin also chipping in with 13 runs from 68 balls.

With Spring Garden Cavaliers also winning, the three top teams are seperated by just a point, with Cavaliers and Forties level on 37 and Village in third on 36.

Village had seemed destined to win comfortably after bowling out ten-man Forties for a paltry 86 off 26.5 overs. Reggie Benjamin did the damage, bowling unchanged for 13 overs as he ripped through Forties line-up, taking six for 43.

Only Brian Brangman, back in the side after taking a year off, put up any resistance for Forties, hitting 37 in 40 balls, which included four sixes and one four.

Village's run chase started even worse than Forties' innings had. Some fine opening bowling from Hoyt Zuill and Blake West had Village four wickets down with just nine runs on the board.

However, some patient batting by Reggie Benjamin and Randy Smith saw them put on 40 runs in 17 overs.

Forties though still had the upper hand and after Benjamin and Smith were both out within the space of five runs to leave Village on 54 for six, they looked like snatching a remarkable win.

Village though would not be denied and Kevin Mallory and Dejon Benjamin saw their side to within touching distance of victory. Simmons though had other ideas and, with the scores tied bowled Dejon Benjamin to bring in last man Burrows.

Showing a maturity beyond his years, Burrows stayed calm and guided the ball past the slip cordon for the winning run to see his side home in 39.4 overs.

"We showed our age today in the field," said disappointed Forties captain Gordon Campbell.

"Sensible batting and running by their tailenders prevented us from putting them away. It was a well deserved win (for Village)."

With Ernst and Young's game with BC Allrounders falling victim to the inclement weather, the only other game to be played on Sunday was between Spring Garden Cavaliers and Jamaican Association.

The two teams took the opportunity to play for the Caribbean Cup as well as valuable league points. Fought over twice a year, Cavaliers entered the weekend as defending champions.

In a match reduced to 35 overs a side because of the bad weather, Jamaican Association were put into bat by Cavaliers and made 171 for nine in their allotted overs.

Cavaliers were not about to let their title slip away, and a masterful unbeaten half-century from Anthony Braithwaite (57), saw them knock off the runs for the loss of three wickets in 23 overs.

The two side are due to meet again in July, when Jamaican Associaton will again have the opportunity to wrest the cup from Cavaliers' grasp.

Standings

P W D L Pts

Spring Garden 5 3 1 1 37

Forties 5 3 1 1 37

North Village 5 3 2 0 36

Jamaican Ass 6 2 2 2 26

Ernst & Young 5 1 2 2 22

BC Allrounders 4 1 0 3 10

St. David's 6 0 2 4 12

Note: Teams are awarded ten points for a win, seven points for a "winning" draw and three points for a "losing" draw. Teams get five points each in unfinished drawn games.

Sunday's games: Spring Garden Cavaliers v BC Allrounders, Garrison Field; Ernst & Young v Forties, Shelly Bay; North Village v St David's, Warren Simmons Community Field. Bye: Jamaican Association. All matches begin at 12.30 p.m.