Champions Hurricanes return to Bermuda Smash final
North Field (Pembroke Panthers won toss): Hamilton Parish Hurricanes beat Pembroke Panthers by eight wickets
Defending champions Hamilton Parish Hurricanes are back into the Bermuda Smash Invitational final after they cruised to victory over Pembroke Panthers in the semi-final on Saturday.
Pembroke went into bat on a very dry wicket, but never found their rhythm thanks to solid fielding and poor timing. New Zealand international opener Jamal Todd was trapped leg before for one off the third ball of George O'Brien, and incoming bat Marcus Scotland was soon bowled by American spinner Raj Nannan for the same score.
Tre Manders tried his hardest to steady the ship with Barbadian Akeem Jordan, but the latter was caught by Nannan for two on the long-off boundary from the first ball of Derrick Brangman, leaving Panthers reeling at 24 for three at the end of their mandatory powerplay.
Young Somerset star Jermal Proctor tried his best to improve the score with captain and club team-mate Dominic Sabir, making two boundaries of his own in a confident cameo of 17. He was eventually caught in the eleventh over by Alex Dore off the bowling of Michael Agard.
Sabir stepped up and tried to take matters into his own hands, striking three sixes during Kyle Hodsoll’s two overs to at least give Pembroke some aggressive momentum. However, he was caught by Nannan on 39 to become Brangman's second victim.
PHC man Charles Trott was run out by Jonte Smith when he tried to dive into his crease for a second run and Zeko Burgess would soon follow Trott to the pavilion after he was was stumped by Sinclair Smith for five.
Neil Thakur was run out by wicketkeeper Smith in the final over as Pembroke were dismissed for just 109. Brangman took three for 15 from his three overs to lead the Parish bowling charge, with Nannan and O'Brien taking two wickets apiece.
Panthers were given a platform to build momentum after Akeem Jordan's first over went for just two runs, but it was one-way traffic thereafter.
Hamilton Parish Hurricanes opener Josh Brown cracked two massive sixes off Kurt Ramdath, who replaced the injured Jeavor Royal, but Charles Trott took a catch off the fourth ball of the Canadian's second over as Hurricanes ended their powerplay on 51 for one.
The champions only needed those two maximums on the way to a simple victory as Fray played a captain's innings of 39 not out to finish on the same score as losing skipper Sabir.
Alex Dore ably supported with 29 and Nannan finished the innings with six singles as his side romped to victory by eight wickets.
Parish captain Fray was pleased with the team’s victory.
“We had a calculated approach,” he added. “It was a team effort, everyone chipped in and we got the victory.”
Pembroke Panthers
T Manders b O’Brien 12
J Todd lbw b O’Brien 1
†M Scotland b Nannan 1
A Jordan c Nannan b Brangman 2
J Proctor c Dore b Agard 17
*D Sabir c Nannan b Brangman 39
C Trott run out 12
Z Burgess st S Smith b Nannan 5
K James c Nannan b Brangman 5
K Ramdath not out 3
S Thakur run out 3
Extras (lb 1, w 8) 9
Total (19.5 overs) 109
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-6, 3-20, 4-24, 5-43, 6-81, 7-89, 8-103, 9-106.
Bowling: O Smith 3.5-0-22-0; O’Brien 4-0-21-2; Nannan 4-1-11-2; Brangman 3-0-15-3; Hodsoll 3-0-34-0; Agard 2-0-5-1.
Hamilton Parish Hurricanes
J Brown c Trott b Ramdath 24
*T Fray not out 39
A Dore c & b Trott 30
R Nannan not out 6
Extras lb 1, w 11) 12
Total (2 wkts; 15.3 overs) 111
J Smith, O Smith, D Brangman, †S Smith, G O’Brien, K Hodsoll and M Agard did not bat
Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-98.
Bowling: Jordan 2-0-7-0; Ramdath 2-0-26-1; Sabir 2-0-11-0; Burgess 1-0-12-0; Todd 4-0-21-1; James 2-0-16-0; Trott 2.3-0-17-1.
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