Lions still on high after slaying the Saints

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

Manchester Lions' coach Barry Barnes is continuing to heap praises on members of his team, days after their narrow three-wicket win over title favourites St Catherine Saints in the quarter-finals of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) Limited Overs Knockout.

The game, which was played at the Jamaica Broilers playing field last Saturday, saw the Lions scoring 253-7 with nine balls remaining in reply to the Saints' 251 off 49.3 overs.

According to Barnes, with the Saints team comprising a number of national representatives, it would have taken a Herculean effort from his young team to pull of the win, but buoyed by their successful performances of the year thus far, they backed themselves.

Recently crowned

The Lions were recently crowned two-day Super League champions for the second year running.

"The team played extremely well. When you look at the St Catherine line-up, which is nearly half of the Jamaica team, it was a tremendous performance, especially given the fact that we were pushed all the way," said Barnes.

The victory, which propelled the Lions into this weekend's semi-finals where they will play defending champions Melbourne Kangaroos at a venue to be decided, was made possible by impressive bowling performances from spinner Ziggy Levy and left-arm pacer Nieve McNally, along with defiant batting from Brian Clarke, Gary Graham and Donovan Sincalir.

Challenging total

Levy claimed 3-53 and left-arm seamer McNally 2-50 to limit the Saints, who had captain Tamar Lambert, 80, and national Under-19 opener Oraine Williams to thank for their challenging total.

Clarke, 53, Gary Graham, 44, Donovan Sinclair, 42, then pulled the Lions home.

Barnes said he was also looking forward to the semi-final where they hope to exact revenge against the Kangaroos who defeated them in the final.

"It will be another tough task, but as I always say to my players if you are a good team, it doesn't matter at what stage you play the big teams. It's a matter of delivering on the day," he said in reference to the showdown.

Manchester, who also missed out on the Twenty20 Knockout title last season after reaching the final, are hoping to claim the double at a minimum this season.

The Twenty20 KO is scheduled to precede the Limited Overs KO.