HPC Fall to Sint Maarten in First T20

The Sint Maarten Select XI defeated the Saint Lucia High Performance Centre (HPC) by four wickets in a thrilling opening T20 match on Wednesday. The fixture was the first of five matches the Saint Lucians are scheduled to play over six days at Carib Lumber Ball Park in Philipsburg. Leaning on a pair of veteran batsmen, the home team was just able to overhaul the tourists’ total of 119. Akeem Charles top-scored with 40 from 31 balls, opener Kenroy David made 21 from 20, and Amarius Harris a run-a-ball 21. Charles and David have played cricket at the senior level in the Leeward Islands for over a decade. The game truly came down to the death, as Sint Maarten needed 20 runs to win, with six balls remaining. Bowling the final over, Tarrique Edward gave up a single, then took a wicket within his first two balls. His third ball went for another single, and the fourth should have been a second wicket, but a dropped catch instead allowed two runs. With seven runs needed off two balls, Charles hit a six to level the scores and scrambled a single off the final delivery to win the piece for his...