Hyatt, Wallace power Cheesefield to victory

Richard Bryan, Gleaner Writer

Cheesefield, powered by their two national players - batsman Danza Hyatt and legspinner Gavin Wallace - completely outplayed Mount Olivet of St Ann by eight wickets to take third place and the $150,000 prizemoney, as the 2010 Social Development Commission (SDC) national 20/20 cricket competition came to a close at Alpart Sports Club, on Sunday.

Richard Williams, three for 18 off four overs, captain Kirk Douglas, for 24 from four, and Wallace, who has represented Jamaica and the Combined Colleges and Campuses teams in the regional tournament, was miserly, conceding nine runs from the four overs he bowled. The real damage created came via the four wickets he took to strangle the Mount Olivet innings that eventually ground to a disappointing halt at 99 in 12 overs.

Wallace would later add more salt to his opponents' wounds, as he hit an unbeaten 23, and ended the match in a blaze of glory, lifting medium pacer Odane Hall in the westerly spectators' stand for consecutive sixes.

His act with the bat was merely the foil for the aggressive Hyatt, who was merciless against the spinners when he opened earlier on with Okeen Sterling.

Sterling's 21 was forgotten at the other end, where Hyatt steamed the crowd with a constant flurry of boundaries in his unbeaten topscore of 43. In the resulting carnage, Michael Blair was hit for consecutive sixes and he also scored three straight fours and a six in nailing 16 from the fourth over of the one-sided run.

Mount Olivet, who had scored the identical 99 in a heavy 95-run loss to South Stars the previous week in the semi-final, gave the crowd of more than 5,000 little to cheer in terms of shots and boundaries. Adrian Byfield, like much of his teammates later on, flattered to deceive, as his three scoring shots included a six and a four off Terrence Sinclair's spell. But once he went for 11 in the third over, with the score on 18, wickets fell regularly.