High-riding Kings look to dethrone Royals in T10 final

After 15 rounds of non-stop swashbuckling T10 cricket action, the Dream XI-sponsored Jamaica T10 competition culminates today with the final between defending champions Surrey Royals and the Surrey Kings at Sabina Park starting at 1:30 p.m.

It will be a repeat of last year’s final with the Kings coming into today’s encounter after wrapping up their preliminary-round phase with their ninth victory, following an 11-run win over the Middlesex Titans yesterday.

The Kings posted 97 for five and then restricted the Titans to 86 for five.

In the meantime, the Royals will feel they are once again in with a good shout to defend their title after handing the Kings their only loss of the season.

Both camps are oozing with confidence, including all-rounder Shalom Parnell of the Kings, who picked up the man of the match award yesterday.

“We are definitely coming for the final this year. We lost a game to the Royals in the round stage, but I would prefer to lose a preliminary round game than to lose in the final, and we are ready,” Parnell said.

One player who could hold the key to the title bid is the hard-hitting Leroy Lugg of the Royals, with the opener scoring the second-most runs in the competition to date with 214 in nine innings.

For Lugg, the key to success is to play simple cricket and the outcome will take care of itself.

“We are going out there to play basic cricket and the better team will come out on top. Once we play the brand of cricket that we know we can play, the result will take care of itself.”

Along with Lugg, opener Carlos Brown will also want to have a say in the grand finale as he will want to add to the 164 runs he has scored so far, which is the fourth most runs in the competition to date.

Captain Javelle Glenn has also been among the runs, scoring 159 in 10 innings. The Royals will boast that they have three of the top four bowlers in the competition with Abhijai Mansingh, Peat Salmon, and Khari Campbell having picked up 15 and 11 wickets apiece, respectively.

In the meantime, the Kings will be banking on Tevin Gilzene and Antwin Stephens to give them a good start, with the bat with captain Jeavor Royal and Andre Russell also expected to factor with both bat and ball.

Meanwhile, The Middlesex United Stars and the Middlesex Titans will square off at 11 a.m. in the third and fourth place playoff.