Captain’s knock from Cato leads Sol to Elite T20 title

Sol players celebrate their 7 wicket win.

A superb and unbeaten 82 from Greenies middle order batsman Greg Strydom was overshadowed by an impressive captain’s innings of 72 not out by Darren Cato, as Sol won Cayman Cricket’s 2019 Elite League T20 final by seven wickets on 11 August.

Having won the toss at West Bay’s Jimmy Powell Oval, Cato opted to give his bowlers a chance to give Sol the upper hand and sent Greenies to bat.

In typical Greenies fashion, they started slowly but were further hampered by the loss of wickets that started when openers Zachary McLaughlin looked to drive Alistair Ifill and got a thick outside edge and was caught at third man by Corey Cato.

Chad Hauptfleich soon followed McLaughlin to the pavilion after he flicked the ball off his pads into the leg side and was caught by Corey Cato off the bowling of Demar Johnson. With both openers gone, Greenies hoped Sacha DeAlwis and Strydom would consolidate the innings but DeAlwis was dismissed attempting to hit Johnson over long off to up the scoring rate but was caught by Kervin Ebanks just inside the boundary.

Greg Strydom’s 82 not out was the anchor for Greenies’ innings

Sensing that any hope rested on his shoulders, Strydom upped the tempo in the 14th over with a pair of sixes off Kevin Basil and continued to find the boundary with regularity as he ensured Greenies put up a respectable total of 142 for seven wickets off their 20 overs.

After losing Ebanks early in their chase, Darren Cato and teenager Luke Myers put together a solid stand that put Sol in prime position. Myers eventually fell for 41 runs to cap a superb final knock before he makes his maiden trip with the senior national team.

The title was pretty much in hand, as Cato continued to make light work of the Greenies bowling attack, punctuating his innings with a four through extra cover to surpass the required total in the 19th over. He ended on 72 not out, as Sol took the victory with 144 for three in 18.1 overs.

Darren Cato (left) and Luke Harrington Myers put on a match-winning partnership.

“I started off a bit shaky but I had to dig in. The team was counting on me, so I kept working and then it started to come off,” Cato told Cayman Sports Buzz after celebrating with his teammates. “I had some support from Luke and once I got in, it was easy work from there.”

He said his plan was to restrict Greenies to 140 and that pretty much went to plan. “We just had to back ourselves to chase it.”

The curtain closer on the domestic season was an emotional one for Cato, following the death of his mother, Beverly, in July. She was a constant presence at local cricket matches. “My mom was always here with me. It’s boosted my determination. Every game, every innings is dedicated to her, so it feels a bit more special,” Cato said.

Elite T20 Final highlights

Several players in action on Sunday are part of the national team that is set to represent the Cayman Islands at the ICC Regional T20 Qualifiers in Bermuda starting this weekend.

Editor’s note:: Full stats from Cayman Cricket were not available at the time of writing.

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