Sports
Roneil Walcott
Trinidad and Tobago’s young cricketers enjoyed a strong start on home soil on the opening day of the West Indies Rising Stars Men’s Under-17 Two-Day Championship as they closed day one with a 247-run lead against Barbados at Inshan Ali Park, Preysal, on August 12.
Batting first, TT posted a competitive 252 for eight before strategically declaring late in the day’s play. The declaration worked to good effect for TT too, as Daron Dhanraj took the scalp of Damarko Wiggins (four) with what turned out to be the final ball of the day to leave the Bajans on five for one from 6.3 overs at stumps.
Earlier in the day’s play, several TT batsmen got starts without carrying on to reach the half-century mark as the hosts had a solid enough showing after being inserted. Captain Saleem Khan (24) and opening partner Christian Lall (26) got TT off to a strong start with a 56-run partnership, before Jahidi Hinds (two for 37) got a breakthrough in the 13th over.
TT then had a slip as they lost their next four wickets for 61 runs as Barbados came right back into contention with the score reading 117 for five after Hinds bowled Roberto Badree for 17. Khan, Darrius Batoosingh (19) and Ra’ed Ali Khan (four) were the other batsmen dismissed as TT looked to be in a spot of bother with half the team down.
Importantly, top-scorer Christiano Ramanan (47) and Renaldo Fournillier (36) stitched together a 53-run partnership for the sixth wicket. However, the Bajans showed their grit again as Ramanan and Amrit Pittiman (duck) were dismissed in quick succession by Justin Parris (three for 51) to leave TT on 170 for seven.
Batting at number nine, Scyon Charles (41 not out) then played a solid hand as he put on 51 for the eighth wicket with Fournillier to take the TT score to 221 before the latter became Raphael Lovell’s second victim. Charles, who struck three fours and a six, then added 31 with Dhanraj (six not out) before TT’s declaration came at the end of the 81st over.
After playing out three consecutive maidens from the TT bowlers, the Bajans finally got off the mark in the fourth over with a boundary from Wiggins. However, with Dhanraj’s third ball in his solitary over, Wiggins was bowled as TT ended the day on a high.
At the National Cricket Centre, Couva, Windward Islands had a promising showing as they posted 281 for nine declared before making early inroads against Guyana who closed day one on 26 for two. Captain and opening batsman Theo Edward (139 off 133) led from the front with a brilliant innings for the Windwards and also featured in a 107-run partnership for the sixth wicket with a patient Tyler Venner (47).
Day two is scheduled to bowl off at 10 am on August 13.
The round one match between Jamaica and Leeward Islands is scheduled to start on August 13 at Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground in St Augustine.
Summarised Scores:
TT 252/8 dec. (Christiano Ramanan 47, Scyon Charles 41, Renaldo Fournillier 36; Justin Parris 3/51, Jahidi Hinds 2/37) vs BARBADOS 5/1 (Daron Dhanraj 1/0).
WINDWARDS 281/9 declared (Theo Edward 139, Tyler Venner 47, Zach Thomas 27; Micah Amsterdam 5/58, Gibran Yacoob 3/49) vs GUYANA 26/2 (Lomar Seecharan 17; T Venner 1/4, Bjorn Fanis 1/11).
