Sports
Roneil Walcott
On a rainy day in TT, the Windward Islands turned out to be the only prosperous team in the first round of the West Indies Rising Stars Men’s Under-17 50-over Championship when they defeated Jamaica via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) Method at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair, on August 24.
At the National Cricket Centre in Couva, recently crowned under-17 two-day champions Barbados were made to wait for their first win of this tourney as their clash with the Leeward Islands ended in a no result.
Meanwhile, no play was possible in the other match at the Inshan Ali Park in Preysal as the encounter between Guyana and hosts TT was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
At the oval, the Windwards were able to eke out a result after chasing a revised target. Batting first, the Jamaicans made a fighting score of 217 for nine, with middle-order batsman Ryan Littleton leading the way with 70 off 76 balls. Littleton was well-supported by Joel Williams (40 off 56) and the pair had a 73-run stand for the seventh wicket to push their team to a respectable score.
Littleton then completed a fine allround showing as he grabbed four for 33 with his medium-pace to give his team a fighting chance. Chasing a revised target of 159 from 30 overs, the Windwards got to 117 for five at the end of the 23rd over before umpires Kellman Kowlessar and Lyndon Rajkumar called an end to the proceedings because of bad light.
The Windwards players would have been the happier bunch with the abrupt end as they were awarded a four-run victory via the DLS Method. Captain and opener Theo Edward top-scored for Windwards with 36 from 39 and shared in a opening stand of 66 with Damali Phillips (25 off 27), before their team lost five wickets for just 46 runs in a ten-over span. Wicket-keeper Johnathan Daniel made 22, before he was spectacularly bowled by Littleton in the 21st over.
Weather permitting, the next round of matches will be played on August 26, with TT taking on Windwards at Gilbert Park in California. Barbados will play Guyana, while Leewards will face Jamaica. All games are scheduled to bowl off at 9.30 am.
Summarised Scores:
JAMAICA 217/9 (50 overs) (Ryan Littleton 70, Joel Williams 40, Demarco Scott 36; Tyler Venner 3/47, Bjorn Fanis 2/34) vs WINDWARDS 117/5 (23 overs) (Theo Edward 36, Damali Phillips 25, Johnathan Daniel 22; R Littleton 4/33). Windwards won by four runs via DLS Method.
LEEWARDS 136/8 (32 overs) (Amroee Jones 34, Tanez Francis 25; Justin Parris 2/16, Reynaldo Bourne 2/23) vs BARBADOS 19/0 (3.3 overs) (Jordan Graham 13 not out). No result.
TT vs GUYANA at Inshan Ali Park in Preysal. Match abandoned without a ball being bowled.
