Day 2 of 3: The Lodge School 108 v Foundation 325-8

WITH A PERFECT SENSE of occasion, Jamal Jordan chose the final of the Cable & Wireless Under-15 Cricket Tournament to play his best innings so far.

The tall, well-built right-hander made a superb maiden century which put Foundation in a supremely dominant position. Today they will take the shiny cup with them back to Christ Church.

Jordan, a 13-year-old from Sargeant's Village, resumed from 13 overnight. He added another 98 yesterday as Foundation batted all day adding 286 runs in 72.3 overs.

"I felt very confident scoring my first century for my school and putting the team on top," said the No. 3 batsman, who was a member of the Barbados Under-13 team.

"The bowling was not that tough. It was easy, actually, and the pitch played well, so I just made the most of it."

Jordan dominated the day's play, with his ton coming at 2:26 p.m. when he gathered two runs to long-on. He followed up with a big six over mid-wicket.

The vigil lasted 210 minutes, came off 158 balls and included six fours and two sixes.

When he left the field Jordan got a huge kiss from his mother, Cyrilene Ince, while his father, Carl, smiled broadly as he watched from the boundary's edge.

Jordan and allrounder Michael Holder added 155 for the third wicket. Holder, a fine stroke-maker with a silky touch, looks to be a good allrounder in the making as he stroked 54 to follow up his three for 16 off nine overs on the first day.

If he can get among the Lodge batsmen as Foundation push for a win today, he will be a good bet for the Player-Of-The-Match award.

After the heroics of Jordan and Holder, and with the team sitting pretty at 252 for four at tea, Foundation had the option of declaring and launching an attack on Lodge's tired players.

However, the innings was stretched until the end of the day, giving most of the batsmen a chance to get a knock.

Chad Clarke-Reifer and Dario Bayne played steadily, while Mario Miller, a small, exciting allrounder with a flashing blade, thrilled the crowd with a run-a-ball unbeaten 15.

This forced Lodge to call out 'keeper Mario Rampersaud to trundle his off-spin and he was rewarded with two wickets, but the horse had already bolted.

* philipspooner@nationnews.com

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