Eastern Credit Union National League Round 5
April 19th & 20th 2008

Bravo hits another hundred
... T&T players show good form

TALENTED T&T and West Indies youth batsman Darren Bravo warmed-up for the Carib Challenge Shield final against Jamaica with another superlative century in the Eastern Credit Union National Cricket League competition yesterday.

He was one of several T&T and Caribbean players to show good form in this crucial round of the tournament.

At the Wilson Road Recreation Ground in Penal, Bravo, notched 102 for Queen’s Park in a Round Five fixture against defending champions FCB Clarke Road United.

The left-handed Bravo, younger brother of West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo, struck five fours and seven sixes in his enterprising innings which lasted 220 minutes and 175 balls.

His effort helped the ‘Parkites’ to post a modest 181. Windwards fast bowler Kenroy Peters was the leading bowler for Clarke Road with five for 44.

In response, Clarke Road closed on 109 for the three. T&T and West Indies youth batsman Adrian Barath is not out on 46.

Last Wednesday at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Bravo struck a magnificent 153, in a specially arranged practice match by the national team, in preparation for the upcoming Challenge Shield final later this week in Jamaica.

At Pierre Road Recreation Ground in Charlieville, leaders PowerGen Sports led by unbeaten 125 from national allrounder Samuel Badree tallied an imposing 430 for six against Alescon Comets.

Badree lashed 11 fours and five sixes in his innings which has so far spanned 169. He featured in an unbroken seventh wicket partnership of 131 with left-arm spinner Dave Mohammed who is not out on 58. Also showing good form ahead of the Shield final, were Richard Kelly and Lendl Simmons.

Playing for Ceramic Merry Boys Sports against Munroe Road Sports at the Cunupia Recreation Ground, Kelly struck 83 and Simmons 60 to help their team tally a competitive 303 for nine declared.

Munroe Road were 110 for four when play ended.

In Division Two, at Presentation College grounds in Chaguanas, Joe Public Invaders were routed by leaders Central Sports for a paltry 128. Guyanese and former West Indies leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo bagged six for 24.

Central Sports ended the day on 197 for one, with Anderson Persad on 92 not out and Dion Bennette unbeaten on 77.

And British/American Aranguez Sports were nicely poised to register an outright win against Endeavour Sports at the Avidesh Samaroo Recreation Ground.

Endeavour Sports taking first strike were routed for a measly 65 with Deepak Kumar (5-19) and Rayon Thomas (4-10 including the hattrick) the main destroyers. In reply, Aranguez declared on 202 for six to establish an important 137-run-lead going into today’s final day’s play. Batting a second time, Endeavour were eight for one.

Division One - Summarised Scores - April 19 & 20

AT MUNROE ROAD REC. GR.: Ceramic Merry Boys Sports 303-9 (Richard Kelly 83, Lendl Simmons 60, Kyron Lynch 50 not out, Travis Karim 3-96, Vikash Mohan 2-47, Kern Matheson 2-75) v Munroe Road Sports 110-4 (Aneil Kanhai 3-38).

AT PIERRE ROAD: PowerGen Sports 430-6 (Samuel Badree 125 n.o., Denzil James 69, Sherwin Ganga 66, Dave Mohammed 58 n.o., Rayad Emrit 2-59, Imran Khan 2-111).

AT INSHAN ALI PARK: Clico Preysal Sports 271 all out (Kjorn Ottley 81, Aaron Ragoonath 75, Ryan Hurley 32, Sanjiv Gooljar 3-44, Avalon Cuffy 2-40, Atiba Alert 2-61) v W Connection Wanderers 73-3.

AT WILSON ROAD: Queen’s Park Cricket Club 181 all out (Darren Bravo 102, Sunil Narine 37, Kenroy Peters 5-44, Dane Teelucksingh 3-45) v FCB Clarke Road United 109-3 (Adrian Barath 49 n.o., Sean Siloch 39, Kervon Cooper 2-28).

Division Two - Summarised Scores - April 19 & 20

AT CHAGUANAS: Joe Public Invaders 128 (Ryan Ragoo 23, Leron Lezama 23, Mahendra Nagamootoo 6-24) v Central Sports 197-1 (Anderson Persad 92 not out, Dion Bennette 77 not out).

AT AVIDESH SAMAROO REC.GR.: Endeavour Sports 65 all out & 8-1(Andy Gobin 16, Deepak Kumar 5-19, Rayon Thomas 4-10) v British/American Aranguez Sports 202-6 dec. (Michael Browne 67, Deepak Kumar 52, Isaac Kennedy 37).

AT COUVA REC.GR.: Superb Caterers Couva Sports 179 & 5-0 (Frankie Ramnanan 69) v Defence Force 105.

EASTERN CREDIT UNION NATIONAL CRICKET LEAGUE
April 19th & 20th

Merry Boys take the lead

CERAMIC Merry Boys Sports surged to the top of the Eastern Credit Union National Cricket League Division One standings, after they secured first innings points in a drawn encounter against Munroe Road yesterday at the Cunupia Recreation Ground.

On the final day of the Round Five contest, Munroe Road chasing Merry Boys’ 303 were dismissed for 173, with Aneil Kanhai picking up six for 64 and former Guyana and West Indies left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell four for 43.

Batting a second time, Merry Boys declared their innings at 122 for five. T&T allrounder Richard Kelly struck his second fifty of the match when he made an unbeaten 52.

Set a victory target of 252 in 50 overs, Munroe Road reached 133 for six, when play ended.

Merry Boys picked up 18 points from the encounter to push their tally to 82, seven more than former leaders PowerGen Sports.

Going into the match with a slender two-point-lead PowerGen’s clash with Alescon Comets ended in a no result at the Pierre Road Recreation Ground in Charlieville.

Chasing PowerGen’s mammoth total of 450 for seven declared, Comets ended on 353 for seven. T&T’s allrounder Rayad Emrit made 74, while Guyana middle-order batsman Travis Dowlin scored 71. T&T’s skipper Daren Ganga contributed 36.

Out-of-favour West Indies left-arm spinner Dave Mohammed followed up his unbeaten 60 for PowerGen, with figures of three for 73.

In the remaining two matches in Division One, Clico Preysal Sports and FCB Clarke Road United took first innings points against W Connection Wanderers and Queen’s Park Cricket Club respectively.

In Division Two at the Presentation College grounds in Chaguanas, leaders Central Sports under a match-haul of 12 for 72 by Guyana and former West Indies Test leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo, along with centuries from Anderson Persad (112) and Dion Bennette (112) triumphed over Joe Public Invaders by an innings and 42 runs.

Eyeing a return to the top flight, Central Sports lead the seven-team-standings with 95 points, and under the astute managerial capabilities of Richard Ramkissoon and Vonney Roberts are highly favoured to win the Division Two championship.

Division One - Summarised Scores - April 19 & 20

AT MUNROE ROAD REC. GR.: Ceramic Merry Boys Sports 303-9 dec.& 122-5 dec. (Richard Kelly 83 & 52 n.o., Lendl Simmons 60, Kyron Lynch 50 not out, Travis Karim 3-96, Vikash Mohan 2-47, Kern Matheson 2-75) v Munroe Road Sports 173 & 133-6 (Darry Balgobin 49, Aneil Kanhai 6-64 & 2-35, Neil McGarrell 4-43). Match drawn. M Boys 18 pts, M Road 7.

AT PIERRE ROAD: PowerGen Sports 450-7 dec. (Samuel Badree 126, Denzil James 69, Sherwin Ganga 66, Dave Mohammed 60 n.o., Rayad Emrit 2-75, Imran Khan 3-121) v Alescon Comets 353-7 (Rayad Emrit 74, Travis Dowlin 71, Satish Naidoo 54, Daren Ganga 36, Dave Mohammed 3-73, Farrell Jugmohan 2-51). No result. P/Gen 9 pts, Comets 7.

AT INSHAN ALI PARK: Clico Preysal Sports 271 all out & 103-7 (Kjorn Ottley 81, Aaron Ragoonath 75, Ryan Hurley 32, Sanjiv Gooljar 3-44, Avalon Cuffy 2-40, Atiba Alert 2-61, Nicholas Ramjass 3-13, Navin Stewart 2-32) v W Connection Wanderers 222 all out (Navin Stewart 38, Sanjiv Gooljar 28 not out, Narine Bidhesi 27, Atiba Alert 21, Shannon Gabriel 4-43, Ryan Hurley 4-77, Kwesi Roy 2-42). Match drawn. Preysal 15 pts, Wanderers 10.

AT WILSON ROAD: Queen’s Park Cricket Club 181 all out & 175-7 dec. (Darren Bravo 102, Sunil Narine 37,Kervon Cooper 79, Justin Guillen 61, Kenroy Peters 5-44 & 4-31, Dane Teelucksingh 3-45) v FCB Clarke Road United 226 all out (Adrian Barath 47, Sean Siloch 39, Kenroy Peters 35, Kervon Cooper 4-50, Keiron Pollard 3-24, Ryan Austin 2-45). Match drawn. C Road 17 pts, Q Park 8.

Division One - Point Standings - Merry Boys 82 pts, PowerGen 75, Clarke Road 74, Queen’s Park 64, Comets 62, Wanderers 45, Preysal 40, Munroe Road 32.

Division Two - Summarised Scores - April 19 & 20

AT CHAGUANAS: Joe Public Invaders 128 & 134 (Ryan Ragoo 23, Leron Lezama 23, Mahendra Nagamootoo 6-24 & 6-48) v Central Sports 304-4 dec. (Anderson Persad 112 , Dion Bennette 112).C. Sports by an inns & 42 runs. C . Sports 28 pts, Invaders 1.

AT AVIDESH SAMAROO REC.GR.: Endeavour Sports 65 all out & 178 (Andy Gobin 16, Hemant Ballai 53, Sanjay Mahase 44, Kumar Kanhai 26, Ancil Baggan 3-31, Deepak Kumar 5-19, Rayon Thomas 4-10 & 2-14) v British/American Aranguez Sports 202-6 dec. & 43-0 (Michael Browne 67, Deepak Kumar 52, Isaac Kennedy 37). Aranguez won by 10 wkts. Aranguez 26 pts, Endeavour 3.

AT COUVA REC.GR.: Superb Caterers Couva Sports 179 & 180 (Frankie Ramnanan 69) v Defence Force 105 & 87 (Chanderpaul Singh 4-40, Vishal Jattansingh 3-15, Fareed Hosein 3-17). Couva won by 163 runs. Couva 26 pts, D Force 8.

Division Two -Point Standings - Central Sports 95 pts, Aranguez 87, Moosai’s Sports 65, Defence Force 41, Couva 38, Invaders 35, Endeavour 33.