Barbados Cricket Association article.
Bridgetown, Barbados - Opener Lee-Germon Gaskin hit an unbeaten century as a Barbados Under-19 team beat the G4S Masters by nine wickets with two balls to spare in a limited overs match at the SJPP ground on Saturday.
It is a true saying that experience is a key factor but when you have youth and some experience on your side it becomes a different matter.
With a target of 182 off 31 overs at 5.84 runs per over, Gaskin, a student at Foundation, opened the batting with Dario Belle, with both batsman soaking up some 76 dot balls before Gaskin reached his fifty off 68 balls in the 21st over striking four fours and one six.
Gaskin, who made 103 not out, was missed by Terry Connell on four in the first over of the innings and then by Sean Armstrong on the long-on boundary off the last ball of the 17th over when he was on 43.
Belle was caught at mid-wicket by Wendell Coppin off Gregory Alleyne for 49 off 62 balls with four boundaries after a partnership of 108 in the 22nd over.
Needing another 74 runs to get in just nine overs, it was going to take a “Sammy” miracle to help them win considering the docile way in which they were batting. Zachary McCaskie joined Gaskin and they laboured to 145 for one in the 28th over, leaving 37 runs from their last three overs.
With spectators divided as to who would win the game, and instructions being given to both sides, captain Pedro Agard reintroduced Sherlon Greaves into the attack with figures of four overs for 14 runs. It proved to be a dreaded mistake.
With his teammates vociferously urging him on, Gaskin ‘went to town’ on Greaves, hitting a mammoth 25 runs which included one four and three sixes, where he scored off every ball as he moved from 69 to 94.
This 29th over of mass destruction went like this: 4 to long off, 2 through cover, 6 over long on, 6 over long off, 6 over long on and a single through cover.
Alleyne was brought back and conceded seven runs in the penultimate over as Gaskin moved to 98, with his partner on 23.
Having scored a single on the last ball of the 30th over, Gaskin with a century within his grasp faced the final over from Marlon Blagrove, of which there was a dot ball. He then ran a single turning the strike over to his McCaskie, who in turn ran a single and gave him back the strike.
There was then a wide and needing just one run for his century and two runs to win the game, Gaskin struck the ball magnificently through cover for four.
McCaskie made 24 not out.
Earlier, the Masters had a disastrous start, losing their first two batsmen for 11 runs in just the second over. Armstrong who opened, reached 21 before becoming one of Chad Williams' three wickets, leg before wicket in a 48-run partnership with Michael Matthews.
Greaves came to the crease next and he and Matthews took the score to 102 for four in the 18th over before he fell for 19.
Matthews scored 51 from 40 balls with four fours and three sixes, while Connell made 35 from 37 balls including two sixes as they ended on 181 for nine.