Source: Trinidad Express
Trinidad and Tobago Under-15 skipper Brendan Boodoo led from the front to guide his team to their third straight victory of the Cricket West Indies Rising Stars Under-15 Championships in Antigua, yesterday.
Unlike their first two wins of the campaign, yesterday’s 17-run triumph over Barbados was a close contest with the momentum swinging back and forth until Boodoo settled the matter.
Batting first, T&T posted a competitive 235 for eight off their 50 overs with Boodoo leading the way with 82 and Christian Lall and Dimitri Ramjattan chipping in with 25 and 22 respectively.
Boodoo also kept his composure with the ball in the final ten overs, grabbing two for 46 with his leg-spin to dismiss the Bajans for 218 in the 49th over.
Also playing a key part with the ball was off-spinner Yasir Deen who kept things tight in the middle overs with figures of two for 30 from ten overs, while Darius Batoosingh grabbed an early wicket and a late one to keep Barbados winless after three matches.
When T&T batted, Boodoo walked out to the middle after the early loss of Batoosingh (13) and put on 73 runs with Dimitri Ramjattan (22) for the second wicket to get the innings back on track.
After Ramjattan (22) departed with the score on 95 and Zane Maraj (five) was sent back 22 runs later, Boodoo kept the innings going with a 72-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Lall to get the score close to the 200-run mark.
As T&T entered the final ten overs of their innings, Lall was run out and Boodoo was caught off the bowling of his opposite number Raphael Lovell with the score of 194. However, the T&T tail rallied to get their team well past the 200-run mark and those extra runs toward the end proved crucial.
In reply, Barbados opener Gadson Bowens struck 65 off 56 balls to get the chase going but the T&T bowlers picked up wickets at the other end to keep the Bajans in check.
Zakilon Beckles struck in the second over of the chase with Oliver Gooding caught by Batoosingh for four before Bowens and Kemar Dixon put on 52 for the second wicket.
Batoosingh accounted for Dixon (five) while Deen removed Damarko Wiggins and Zane Maraj sent back Justin Parris shortly after to leave Barbados in some trouble at 87 for four in the 16th over.
The run out of Bowens in the next over didn’t help but a 61-run partnership between Seth Smith and Lovell, which spanned 16 overs, kept the chase alive.
However, Deen intervened once more, removing Smith for 22 but Lovell went on to bring up his 50 with a four off Alejando Kassiram which also took the score to 185 for seven.
Barbados needed 51 off the final eight overs of the match and with their skipper Lovell still in the middle, the game was still in the balance.
Boodoo conceded just three runs in the next over and with the pressure mounting he tossed the ball back to Batoosingh who delivered with the wicket of Akobi Chrichlow-Byer for 16.
Barbados now required 41 from the last five overs.
Boodoo then accounted for the Bajan skipper, stumped for 61 before bowling Jayden Chase for eight to take T&T to victory.
The win ensured T&T stayed at the top of the standings heading into the penultimate round of matches tomorrow.
T&T will face Jamaica tomorrow and will end its campaign against the Leeward Islands on Wednesday.
Summarised scores:
At Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
T&T U-15s 235-8 (50 overs) (Brendan Boodoo 82, Christian Lall 25, Dimitri Ramjattan 22; R’Jai Gittens 2/61) vs Barbados U-15s 218 (49 overs) (Gadson Bowens 65, Raphael Lovell 61; Yasir Deen 2/39, Brendan Boodoo 2/46, Darius Batoosingh 2/39)
—T&T won by 17 runs.
At Liberta Ground
Jamaica U-15s 117 (26.2 overs) (Ryan Lyttleton 17; Amoree Jones 4/20, Krishna Girdhari 2/14, Lythe Browne 2/6) vs Leeward Islands U-15s 119-4 (33.1 overs) (Lawshorn Bergan 31 n.o., Matthew Miller 23; Ryan Lyttleton 3/36)
—Leewards won by six wickets.
At Coolidge Cricket Ground
The Windward Islands U-15s 174 (50 overs) (Tyler Venner 45) (Dave Mohabir 3/19, Shane Prince 2/49, Adrian Hetmyer 2/36) vs Guyana U-15s 145 (40.3 overs) (Razam Koobir 39, Navin Boodwah 35; Jordan Charles 4/31, Leon Alexander 3/22, Theo Edwards 3/22)
—Windwards won by 29 runs.
Tomorrow’s CWI U-15 fixtures:
• Jamaica vs T&T, Coolidge Cricket Ground
• Windward Islands vs Barbados, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
• Leeward Islands vs Guyana, Liberta Cricket Ground