St George's, Mona cruise into final

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

St George's College and Mona High will contest the final of the ISSA/First Global 'A' League cricket competition, after recording four-wicket wins over Pembroke Hall and Camperdown High, respectively, when the two-day semi-finals ended yesterday.

At Emmet Park, St George's College: The home team, which resumed the day on 177 for seven in reply to Pembroke Hall's 147, went on to add another nine runs before being dismissed for 186.

Batting a second time Pembroke Hall, who trailed by 39 runs in the first innings, did not fare better and were dismissed for 126.

Leading the way for the 'Georgians' were spinners Ahmed Campbell, who claimed four for 16, and Shandily Blair, who took two for 25.

Opener Courtney Dowdie, with 40, made most runs for the visitors.

St George's, needing 88 for victory, then coasted to 89 for four, with Russell Lee making 35 not out.

a rewarding victory

"It was a rewarding victory. From the beginning of the season the boys said they wanted to come out of the 'A' League and go into the Premier League, and by winning we have achieved at least one goal," said St George's College's coach, Glendon Coke.

"The next (goal) is to win the final," he added of the game to be played next week Thursday and Friday at Melbourne Oval. "It was a good match as Pembroke Hall did not give up easily, but in the end we knew that we had what it took to come out on top."

At Mona: The hosts, who had claimed first innings points on day one after making making 232 and bowling out Camperdown for 97, enforced the follow-on and then went on to bowl out the boys from east Kingston for 175.

Craig Powell (51) and Geovanni Mitchell (36) led the way for Camperdown with an opening stand of 110. However, that was not enough to save the east Kingston school.

The leading bowlers for Mona were Jahvon Wollaston two for 25, Dean Martin two for 23 and Keifer Francis, two for 32.

Mona, needing 37 to wrap up the match, then achieved their target at 38 for four with Damale O'Gilvie hitting a top score of 29 not out.

"It was a good win and I would like to congratulate the boys. They fought well," said Mona's coach, Owen Speid.

"We will now turn our attention to the final and preparations leading up to it, as I still believe we have some work to do and can get better," he declared.