The 2025 Saint Lucia cricket calendar ended as it began, with a tournament win for Gros Islet on Sunday, December 28, at Mindoo Phillip Park. Career-best bowling from Bjorn Fanis and Lee John, paired with a Noelle Leo century and fifties from Kimani Melius and Jard Goodman, handed the northerners back-to-back wins in the Saint Lucia National Cricket Association Two-Day Tournament, defeating Central Castries by seven wickets.
Summary scores: Central Castries 136 and 304, Gros Islet 289 and 152-3
Winning the toss, Melius opted to bowl. Young quickie Darvin Forde took two of the top three batters for the men from the capital, grabbing the wickets of Theo Edward and Jamaal James inside the first three overs. Jeandell Cyril took the dangerous Stephen Naitram, but Castries settled for a bit, at least until the start of the Bjorn Fanis show.
The 17-year-old right-arm pacer, an alumnus of Leon Hess Comprehensive Secondary School, got opener Amari Venner for 12, then ended the staunch resistance of Jayden Elibox, out for 71 with the score 114-5 after 18 overs. Aiden Scholar followed for two, and the last four wickets added just 14 runs between them.
Isaiah Jones got rid of Dillan John for one. Fanis took Kympani Sexius for two. Cypriani Norville went to Jones for one, and Fanis ended Tyler Sookwa’s innings at 17. Fanis ended with 5-22 from his 5.2 overs to close the Central Castries account at 136.
Gros Islet wasted little time in overhauling the first innings total, getting to 138-3 by the 20th over. Goodman continued his productive season, hitting 67 from 48 balls with five fours and five sixes at the top of the order. Melius hit a rapid 21 off 19 balls, and Leo was on 26 from 19.
By tea, they were 168-4, Leo on 43 from just 23 balls, and Tarrique Edward out for 17. Despite losing partners regularly from that point forward, Leo, the left-handed Windward Islands wicketkeeper-batsman, struck a fluent 130 from just 63 deliveries, comprising nine fours and 11 sixes, to carry his team to 289, a first-innings lead of 153.
On a flat second-day pitch, Central Castries turned in a much better shift, getting to 304. Theo Edward was out to Fanis for20, but Amari Venner and Jamaal James led an excellent recovery, putting on 136 runs for the second wicket.
Both fell in the 36th over, however, to John, a 20-year-old off-spinner. John claimed Venner for 53 off 107 balls, and James for 90 off 77. Stephen Naitram and Jayden Elibox pressed to extend the slim advantage before falling eventually to John for 19 and 16, respectively. Tyler Sookwa and Kymani Sexius helped the tail to wag, scoring 40 and 33.
The man of the moment was indubitably John, whose lifetime best figures of 8-85 from 19.1 overs tore through the Central Castries innings. Nonetheless, the challengers finished on 304, a useful lead of 151, but with only a maximum of 29 overs to force an unlikely result.
The Gros Islet openers went cheaply, Khan Elcock for one and Jard Goodman for a duck. But Melius and Leo set about securing an outright win, smashing 99 from 9.3 overs. Melius, the former West Indies Under-19 captain, dealt in boundaries early, rocketing to his half-century on the strength of three fours and six sixes.
The young batter from Boguis adopted a more circumspect approach in the 90s, but that might have cost him the century. He was trapped leg before wicket by Elibox for 98 from 41 balls, with 11 sixes and four fours. But that success was too little, too late for Central, with Gros Islet needing only 22 runs to win.
Leo, too, was dealing in boundaries. He clinched victory with a six in the 15th over, ending on an unbeaten 46 from 34 balls, inclusive of three fours and four sixes.
Gros Islet started the year by winning the 2024-2025 two-day competition in February. They added the Sandals Under-19 trophy, shared with Central Castries, and sailed to victory in the National Lotteries Authority Saint Lucia Premier League.
(TF)
