No Man’s Land Explorers's dream became a reality on Sunday as they lit up Shaw Park Recreational Grounds with two convincing victories against Store Bay Snorkelers and Pirate’s Bay Raiders, to cop the inaugural Dream11 Bago T10 Blast title.
Explorers defeated the Snorkelers by nine wickets in the play-off on Sunday morning to advance to the afternoon final. There, they executed another dominant top-order batting display to seal victory by the same margin.
In the play-off, Snorkelers were sent in to bat and put on a solid 115/5 from their ten overs. Dillon Douglas top scored with 56 from 26 balls (seven fours, three sixes) while wicketkeeper Daniel Williams chipped in with 21, and Jesse Bootan added 20.
Douglas and Williams built an opening stand of 79 runs from six overs before the first wicket fell. Mikkel Govia (2/21) was the Explorers’ best bowler.
[caption id="attachment_1048461" align="alignnone" width="1024"] No Man's Land Explorers' Dejourn Charles on the attack against Pirate's Bay Raiders in the Dream11 Bago T10 Blast at Shaw Park Recreation Ground, Scarborough, Sunday. Photo courtesy Tobago Cricket Association -[/caption]
Set 116 for victory, the Explorers lost opener Jyd Goolie (one) with just four runs on the board
Undeterred, number three batsman Tion Webster (53 not out) joined Kamil Pooran (52 not out) in the middle and together the pair constructed a match-winning 105-run partnership as Explorers raced to 119/1, with five balls to spare.
Webster was adjudged man of the match.
In the title match against Pirate's Bay Raiders, Explorers again won the toss and sent Raiders in to bat. After ten overs, they finished on 108/6, led by Marlon Richards’ unbeaten 26 and Evin Lewis’ 24 from 15 balls. Shamman Hooper also hit a quick-fire 22 from 13 balls but retired hurt.
[caption id="attachment_1048462" align="alignnone" width="1024"] No Man's Land Explorers at Shaw Park Recreation Ground. -[/caption]
Govia again topped the bowling for Explorers with 2/14 while Pooran took three catches.
In reply, Dejourn Charles (42) and Pooran (39 not out) made light work of the target and guided Explorers to 111/1, with two overs to spare. For his heroics with the bat, Charles was adjudged MVP.
Pooran finished the tournament with the most runs (350) at an average of 50 and a strike rate of 177. He was named the tournament's MVP.
The result saw No Man’s Land Explorers capture the $100,000 prize.
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