Saint Lucia shot to the top of the table in the Winlott Inc Windward Islands Under-19 Men’s Super50 Championship with a win over defending champions and hosts Dominica on Tuesday, April 14. The victors raised their net run rate to 1.719, with Dominica second on .642. Both teams had two wins and one loss. Grenada failed to keep pace after handing St Vincent & the Grenadines their first win.
Playing at Benjamin Park, Saint Lucia won the toss, and captain Theo Edward opted to bat. Behind a half-century from Johnathan Daniel, they scored 162 runs in 42.1 overs. Daniel faced 64 deliveries and hit four fours and a six. He was supported by opening batsman Roystan Fannis, who added a patient 25 from 59, and Tyler Venner, with 20 from 46.
The Dominica reply never got going. Tyler Venner bowled Derwin Lewis for a duck with the fifth legal ball of the match. Nathaniel Joseph caught and bowled the other opener, Alex Armstrong, at the end of the fourth over, also without scoring. By the eighth over, Dominica were three wickets down as Bjorn Fanis took his sole wicket.
Venner returned in the next over and dismissed Earsinho Fontaine, who added just three runs. A minor recovery took the hosts to 47-4, but Neil Poyotte struck with his off breaks, taking Kelan Christmas and then Kenneth Burton. Along with Cody Fontenelle, Poyotte cleaned up the final four wickets for 18 runs, dismissing Dominica for 73 and winning by 89 runs. Poyotte ended with 4-11 from four overs, Fanis 1-10 from four, and Fontenelle 2-9 from 2.5 overs.
Daniel’s half-century was the first for Saint Lucia and just the second in this year’s tournament. It took him to a chart-topping 107 runs from three matches, with a 35.67 average. Nathaniel Joseph claimed his seventh wicket in the competition, leading Saint Lucia in that department. Only Poyotte and Liam Wilson have better economy rates than his 3.23 runs conceded per over.
