VIJAY ground out a two-wicket win over Supercats on Sunday April 4 in an uninspiring test-run for the forthcoming Mike Holmes Memorial Tournament final.

With the league's best run rate difference, Supercats went into their last league stage match needing only to avoid a 100-run defeat to be sure of a spot in the final, while Vijay were in a similar position, as well as having two games in hand.

With so little resting on the match, the low scoring, excitement free encounter that followed was far from surprising.

Winning the toss, Supercats elected to bat first, effectively securing their final position by denying their opponents the chance to set a run rate crushing score.

Bowling for Vijay was opened by Arvind and Kaushal, who rattled through the opening batsmen, Kaushal claiming Sanjeev for 2 and Ananca for 3, while Arvind dismissed Deepak for 4 and ran out Daniel for 6.

Hitesh and Vijay combined to contribute a minor middle order stand, putting on 23 between them.

By this point the bowling attack had been taken up by Krishna and Jaijith who carried on where Kaushal and Arvind left off and, after claiming the wickets of Vijay and Hitesh, went on to dismiss the rest of the batsmen, none able to broach the double figures mark.

A miserable 55 off the bat was bolstered by 23 extras, leaving the 'Cats all out for 78 after 20 overs.

Looking for under three runs an over, Vijay might have been expected to quickly pile on the runs in a bid to throw down the gauntlet ahead of the final.

Instead, spectators at Freedom Square were forced to endure a slow and painful slog towards a winning score with wickets thrown away at regular intervals.

Only Kaushal performed to the usually high standard, the opener making the day's best score of 19, before becoming the first of Daniel's 4 wickets for 10 runs.

The 'Cats bowler went on to claim a "hat-trick", the wickets of Arvind, Patrick and Vishram falling in the space of three deliveries.

As the top and middle orders disintegrated, it was left to the capable Vasudev to steer Vijay home. He was undefeated on 11, with Piyush not out on 2, when the 80-run mark was finally reached.

Vijay claimed the win by 2 wickets and Kaushal picked up the man-of-the-match award, after a match that did little to raise hopes of a thrilling final.

The last league match before the final takes place on Sunday at Freedom Square and sees Luckstars attempt to extract their first victory of the competition, against Vijay.

National Athletics Championship
Laramé registers wind-assisted 6.27m long jump performance

Athletics Cup competition
Record breakers Lindy Leveaux, Ronny Marie in a class of their own Athlétisme Quatorze jeunes Seychellois au Championnat Cadet de la région sud de l'Afrique