It was a truly dominating performance by the men from Grays Farm, at the Ball Beef yesterday. After following up on their impressive victory against Pigotts on Saturday, they turned their attention to the Liberta Black Hawks who were defending the title for the last 3 years.
After a late start due to rain interruption, Empire won the toss and elected to bat in the 26 Overs game. Damian Lowenfield and Tyrone Williams got off to a brisk start before the latter falling in the 7th Over. They then slipped to 74-4 by the 14th Over, with only 12 Overs remaining.
The game swung Empire’s way with the partnership of Justin Athanaze and former Black Hawks player, Cleton Payne. The two valiantly rebuilt the innings and put on a 97 run blistering partnership. While Payne rotated the strike skillfully from one end, Athanaze smashed the hapless bowlers to all parts of the ground. He bludgeoned a whirlwind 63 from 33 balls blasting 4 fours and 6 sixes with Empire Nation closing on 176 for 7.
At the resumption of play, Liberta got off to quick-fire start with 13 off the first 3 balls, but veteran fast bowler Edwin Richardson had other answers. From then on it was literally slippery slopes for the Black Hawks as batsmen came and went. The run-rate at no point was an issue but the falling of the wickets were, as the largest partnership was 21. The most notable wicket was of Rahkeem Cornwall, who went for a 1 ball duck after he was deceived by an off-cutter by the lanky Richardson. The men in black eventually were rolled over for 82 all out.
Empire Nation Manager Samantha Frank Celebrating
At the end of the match, the presentation was made by the ABCA to award the various teams and players for their performances. National Batsman Tyrone Williams was voted Man of the Series while Justin Athanaze received the Man of the Match award. The ABCA Two Day Competition will commence 30th March, 2018.