PENTAGON secured the Evening League Division III title in their play-off match against NatWest at FB Fields last night.
Batting first, Pentagon reached 102 for four from 12 overs and restricted NatWest to 91 for eight.
Although a solid and stand out performance from former Island player Wayne Summers greatly influenced the fixture, Pentgon were pushed hard by resilient NatWest bowling.
Pentagon’s Nick Fry said: ‘Initially, we didn’t think we had enough runs, but undoubtably the player of the match was Wayne, with a good performance at the crease and with the ball’.
Summers scored a resolute 52 not out and featured in the bowling attack with one wicket for just 12 runs from his three overs, instrumental in giving Pentagon the title.
For Pentagon’s old guard, Ewen Le Marquand and captain Nick Fry, last night’s victory will have laid ghosts of previous near misses, after almost two decades of trying.
Evoking both delight and relief, Fry said, ‘We had finished runners up on a number of occasions, having been in play-off matches before, but after 19 years of trying and through hard graft and a great team spirit we have done it’.
Other notable performances for Pentagon came from Ewen LeMarquand scoring 22, and rookie first team Island cricketer Peter Blackburn (19) taking three wickets for 18 runs.
The effective pairing of Blackburn and Summers meant NatWest were stunted in their scoring, registering only 12 runs in the opening four overs.
NatWest had only nine runs to show for their opening three batsmen, but drew solace from their middle order, typified by a strong performance by Neal Crowell scoring 20.
Steve Farden with 15 and and Scott Tait with 14 represented other attempts to bring up the Natwest total in an otherwise stunted innings.
Captain Steve Varley said after the game, ‘We gave Pentagon a real fright in restricting them to 102 runs in 12 overs - but were always struggling with the bat after losing early wickets.
We have had a great season, winning 9 out of 10 league matches - and that represents a big step forward for the club’.
Article posted on 10th August, 2004 - 12.00am
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