Kent Cricket Club (KCC) registered a resounding victory over newly promoted side, Wanderers Cricket Club (WCC) in the on going Mercury T20 Cricket Premier League on Sunday at the Prince of Wales Cricket grounds in Kingtom, Freetown.
The match was a real showpiece for the debutants who surprisingly displayed the best of cricket with good batting and tight bowling to record the convincing win with a huge margin despite the absence of four senior players.
Batting first after winning the toss, Kent batmen posted a whopping 169 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in 20 overs to win their first match of the season by 104 runs. Kent Men's Captain James Bundu was the main contributor as he top scored with 52 runs, Nabeel Shahzad scored 44runs while debutant Michael Tommy received 8 balls and scored 20 runs.
In reply, Wanderers scored a total of 65 runs all out in 15 overs, recording their third straight defeat in the league. Kent’s young left arm spinner Raymond Coker, who also made his first appearance for the Club, took 4 vital wickets for 10 runs.
Winning the match, KCC Head Coach, Joseph Pessima, fondly called the “Breeze”, lauded his players for what he described as their best performance since the start of league. Affirming, the boys proved how dangerous they can be when they play without some of the big names players. Coach Pessima further said he was confident with his decision to use most of the young players in the KCC squad because he knew they will win against Wanderers who are yet to win a match in the premier division.
Wanderers Coach, Balowa Mansaray was very disappointed with the result having lost there matches consecutively. “We were very poor in the match. Cricket is all about chances. We failed to bowl well during our innings and Kent took the opportunity to pile more runs and we were unable to reply adequately”. Mansaray confirmed that KCC have a very balanced team with lots of teenagers who have great potential in the game. Adding, one cannot compare Wanderers to Kent because their players have been in the premier league for two seasons whiles his WCC side is new in the top division.
Meanwhile, it was a good outing for Kent’s visitors John Hunt and Penny Price from Tilford Cricket Club in England purposely visit the venue to witness the match with the enthusiasm to see the Kent team play for the first time. After the match, John Hunt pledged his support for the club to the Chief Executive Officer of Kent, Emmanuel Pessima. Hunt stated, “Our friend Penny and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of seeing Kent Cricket Club playing at close quarters. I would like to be involved with your club; we both thought your involvement and commitment to the development of Kent CC was very impressive”.