LOCAL CRICKET ROUND-UP
May 20th 2009

North championship heading for blanket finish

The battle for supremacy in the T&T Cricket Board’s North Championship Division is heading for a blanket finish, with no fewer than six teams in contention for top honours.

With seven rounds of matches completed, UTT leads the 11-team standings with 96 points, closely followed by Defence Force (95), Queen’s Park (91), Barataria Ball Players (89), Spoilers (87) and British/American Aranguez Sports (86).

Much will depend on this weekend’s matches, which will give a much clearer indication of where the coveted title is heading.

In the South Championship Division, pre-tournament favourites Rahamuts Evergreen holds a handy 28-point lead going into Round Nine matches.

Among the leading performers last weekend were former T&T and West Indies right-arm leg-spinner Rajindra Dhanraj who scored (59 & 39) and bagged four wickets for 30 runs for Victoria Sports against Caldrac.

Dhanraj’s former national colleague Keno Mason also struck a half-century (50) for Victoria, while the promising Javed Ramdhanie picked up seven for 60 for Caldrac.

Point standings

North Championship

UTT 96 pts, Defence Force 95, Queen’s Park 91, Barataria Ball Players 89, Spoilers 87, Aranguez 86, Curepe 76, Bamboo 75, Police 72, Invaders 59, Sweet Revenge 53.

South Championship

Evergreen 129 pts, Woodland 101, Endeavour 86, Victoria 84, Diamond 80, Caroni Sav. Rd. 76, Calcutta 72, Couva Sports 72, Caldrac 62, Valiants 61, Milton 37.

Summarised Scores

North Championship

AT FELICITY: Ihsan Invaders 229 & 277 v UTT 351-7 dec. (match drawn). UTT 21 pts, Invaders 9.

AT BAMBOO: Bamboo Sports 174 & 124 (Bachan Balram 56, Vishwanath Seenath 23) v Defence Force 278 & 120-2. (Defence Force won by 8 wkts). D Force 27 pts, Bamboo 5.

AT OVAL: Queen’s Park 177 (Petrock Nicholas 77, Ansil Bhagan 5-48) & 115 (Vikash Mohan 3-27) v British/Aranguez Sports 217 & 75-2 (Safraz Lalloo 87, Deepak Kumar 63, Sunil Singh 33, Darren Deonarine 3-50). (Aranguez won by 8 wkts). Aranguez 24 pts, Q Park 5.

AT BARRACKS: Police Sports 341 & 165 (Aaron Ragoonath 93) v Barataria Ball Players 326 (Cleavon Fredericks 60). (match drawn). Police 17 pts, BB Players 14.

AT CUREPE: Spoilers 74 & 219 (Param Rampersad 47, Rishi Rampersad 4-26, Rishi Ramgoolie 3-21) v Curepe Sports 306-8 dec. (Neil Williams 98). (Curepe won by an innings and 13 runs). Curepe 28 pts, Spoilers 5.

South Championship

AT CHAGUANAS: Valiants 314 & 83-2 (Shammi Rampersad 86, Danny Narayan 64, Dilip Basdeo 54, Rajendra Poorai 4-55) v Caroni Savannah Road 350-8 dec. (Ronnie Gobin 60, Dominic Choy 79, Kevin Affonso 59, Ryan Jaipaul 79, Shammi Rampersad 3-51). (match drawn). C Savannah 17 pts, Valiants 9.

AT BARRACKPORE: Victoria 262 & 150-7 dec. (Rajindra Dhanraj 59 & 39, Keno Mason 50, Javed Ramdhanie 7-60) v Caldrac 215 (Darren Choon 72, Azard Mohammed 54, Rajindra Dhanraj 4-30, Kavesh Kantasingh 3-32). (match drawn). Victoria 16 pts, Caldrac 10.

AT KENNEDY PARK: Milton Sports 97 & 139 v F&E Diamond 123 & 115-2. (Diamond won by 8 wkts). Diamond 24 pts, Milton 4.

AT COUVA: Couva Sports 230 & 156-6 (David Sultan 5-68) v Evergreen 368 (Vishnu Narine 100, Rajeev Ivan 77, Hollister Pajotte 67, Chanderpaul Singh 5-63). (match drawn). Evergreen 19 pts, Couva 9.

AT AVIDESH SAMAROO GR.: Woodland Sports 238 & 210-8 (Keon Celestine 33, Paul Wintz 82,Richard McCleod 63, Andre Brown 42 & 32, Reaz Kadir 33, Keegan Jaggesar 37, Narine Roopnarine 3-88, Stephen Shadick 2-29, Jodhan Manohar 3-43, Hemant Ballai 4-46, Ishwar Maraj 2-33) v Ihsan Endevour Sports 133 (Andy Gobin 44, Adesh Ramphalie 29, Paul Wintz 4-55, Richard Sieuchan 3-30, Andre Brown 2-18). (match drawn). Woodland 16 pts, Endeavour 9.

Endeavour night hardball starts on Monday

The Endeavour Sports Club will be hosting its inaugural 20/20 night cricket hardball competition on Monday at the Avidesh Samaroo Recreation Ground.

The duration of the tournament is for two months and carries a first prize of $10,000.

Registration fee is $2,400 which includes white balls for all games. For more information please contact: Eshwar Roopchand 743-6403, Kumar Kanhai 768 -6327, Rajesh Ramphalie 344-5479, 732-1352.

‘Pres’ ends 20 years of dominance

Presentation College of San Fernando defeated arch-rivals Naparima College for the first time in over 20 years in their ‘Annual Old Boys’ cricket match. The match was played last Saturday at the Wilson Road Recreation Ground.

‘Pres’ put in a clinical performance to ensure a sweet and historic victory. Former T&T Under-19 player Brent Augustus dominated proceedings as he took three for 32 when ‘Naps’ batted and scored 90 not out in Pres’ turn at the crease.

SUMMARISED SCORES

AT WILSON ROAD: Naparima College 144 (29 overs) (Gary Siewdass 46, Baldath Bodoe 26, Azad Mohammed 3/19, Brent Augustus 3/32, Terrance Brathwaithe 2/17) vPresentation College 146/3 (23 overs) (Brent Augustus 90, Tyrone Kalpee 36, Baldath Bodoe 2/41). ‘Pres’ won by 7 wkts.

Man of the Match: Naparima—Gary Siewdass.
Man of the Match: Presentation—Brent Augustus.
Overall Man of the Match: Brent Augustus.

Klondykes windball bowls off on Sunday

The annual Klondykes Windball Cricket competition will get underway on Sunday at the Aranguez Savannah. Some $20,000 in prize monies will be at stake in this year’s tournament.

Also among the incentives are prizes for the ‘Best Dressed’, ‘Best Disciplined’, ‘Most Runs’ and ‘Most Wickets’.

There will also be a losers competition for those not making it to the ‘Big 8’. This year’s tournament is dedicated to long-standing sports administrator, Forbes Persaud.

For more information teams can contact: Visham Narine at 725/4856 or Richard Ramoutar at 372/3024.

Penal Sports U-19 final on Saturday

A series of matches in the Penal Sports Association competitions will take place this weekend including the Quality Electrical/GPR Reactors Under-19 final at the Bakal Recreation ground on Saturday.

QUALITY ELECTRICAL—GPR REACTORS UNDER 19 FINALS
Sat—1 pm:
Rochard Rd vs MYO at Bakal
Umpires: Deolal Sahatoo & Kelvin Ramdeo
Both sponsors—Mitra Nanan & Harry Gobinpersad will be present.

30 OVERS SEMI FINALS
Both matches: Sun—1 pm
Sunrise vs Mohess Rd at Metronomes
Umpires: Carlo & Manbodh
Mercernaries vs Valley Line at Mohess Rd.
Umpires: Seechahan & Dwarika

DHANAM—ULTRAGEN SATURDAY COMPETITION SEMI FINALS
Both matches: Sat—1 pm
Sunrise vs San Francique at Metronomes
Umpires: Carlo & Manbodh
Valley Line vs GPR at XMen Ground
Umpires: Seechahan & Dwarika

TWENTY20: 3RD ROUND

Only teams available have been fixtured.
The 1ST mentioned team is the home team
Sun—1 pm
8 Mile vs Vikings
GPR vs Merry Boys.