Excelsior take no prisoners against St Jago in Grace Shield final
EXCELSIOR High Head Coach Kirkland Bailey suggested it was business as usual for his team after a gigantic 420-run victory over St Jago High in the ISSA/ Grace Shield cricket final on Wednesday.
Set a hugely improbable 473 runs for win, the Monk Street, Spanish Town-based St Jago were bowled on for a paltry 52 in their second innings, late on day two of the three-day urban area schoolboy championship match at Sabina Park.
Excelsior most recently won the Grace Shield in 2022 — they were eliminated at the semi-final stage by Wolmer’s Boys’ last season. St Jago are suffering back-to-back disappointments after losing to Wolmer’s in last year’s final at Melbourne Oval.
Scores: Excelsior 337 (60 ovs) & 292-9 decl (44.2 ovs); St Jago 157 (42.4 ovs) & 52 (37.1 ovs).
Bailey told the Jamaica Observer that the script was similar to the ones his team has been writing all season.
“We’ve had a dominant season so this wasn’t any different from other games we’ve played in urban area
cricket,” he said during a post-match interview.
“We just wanted to make sure that our batters delivered — and once we did that we knew the game would be in our favour because the bowlers have been very reliable.”
He left an ominous message for potential rivals next year.
“I think we’ll only get better from here… this team will only lose three members from the eleven so, hopefully, we’ll be back here next year competing for another title,” Bailey said.
St Jago Head Coach Joseph Lemmie conceded his team was outmatched over the course of the two days.
“I’m very disappointed, I must say, because I think we played some poor cricket. We didn’t bowl the ball in the right areas… the players didn’t execute our plans, and there were a lot of dropped chances.
“But, I’m pleased with the guys because we have also played some good cricket all season. It’s always hard to lose a final but Excelsior played the better cricket and that’s why they were victorious,” Lemmie told the Observer.
On Wednesday St Jago resumed their first-innings reply on 133-8 after Excelsior had piled on 337 on the opening day.
St Jago were only able to add an additional 24 runs for the two wickets remaining to trail by 180 runs in the first innings. Milton Luckain top-scored with 52 against Demarco Scott and Tamarie Redwood who claimed 3-44 and 2-39, respectively.
The Mountain View Avenuebased Excelsior team batted a second time and sped to 292-9 declared to effectively put the match out of reach.
David Dewar made 89 while Scott supported with 68. Luckain grabbed 5-122 for St Jago while Vitel Lawes, who had five wickets in the first innings, picked up 4-98.
When St Jago batted a second time they were overrun by Redwood (6-16) and all-rounder Michael Clarke (3-11).