St George's College's Shanoy Blair (left) and wicketkeeper Tavanney Thorpe celebrate the dismissal of a Mona batsman on the first day of their two-day ISSA/First Global 'A' League final at Melbourne Oval. - Ian Allen

St George's College ended the day in pole position after claiming first-innings honours over Mona High in their two-day ISSA/First Global 'A' League clash at Melbourne Oval yesterday.

Led by a brilliant all-round display from Russell Lee, St George's closed the day on 167 for three, 33 runs ahead, after bowling out the boys from east St Andrew for 134.

Lee bowling left-arm spin claimed three for 22 to help bowl out Mona and by the end of the day, he was 57 not out.

dominance

Others who have contributed to St George's dominance thus far are pacer Shanoy Blair, who took four for 21 and fellow left-arm spinner Ahmed Campbell, who claimed three for 21.

Mona, who entered the game as slight favourites, given their track record in the competition, had Kadeen Miller 41, Nico Anderson 38, Jahvon Wollaston 17 and Keifer Francis 15 not out, mainly, to thank for their total.

"They have the upper hand right now, but in schoolboy cricket one is never really behind," surmised Mona's coach, Owen Speid.

"We still have seven hours to come and we plan to use it to keep ourselves in the hunt," he added.

St George's coach, Glendon Coke, was happy with their position.

"We are quite upbeat now that we have got first innings," he said. "We have one hand on the trophy and the plan is to try and bat as long as possible and try and put them out the game."