Chrystian Thurton hammered the first century of the Shell-sponsored Under-19 Inter Zone cricket tournament to send Central into the semifinals against defending champions East.
In third round matches contested last week East, beaten in two 50-over finals already this season in the competition (Under-17 and Under-15) remained in contention for silverware when they trashed North Zone for a place in the last four.
Playing at Gilbert Park in California, Central, made a daunting 276 all out in 44.4 overs, fired by Thurton’s 103 and aided by Saiba Batoosingh’s 42 and opening batsman Shawn Vialva with 26.
Despite the Central run-feast, South’s Dennis Ramnath grabbed five wickets for 45 runs in his allotted ten overs, while Xavier Ganga took two for 30 in seven overs and four balls.
And in response, the South team, already winners of the Under-17 and Under-15 titles, could not replicate their success and were shot out for just 76 in 26.4 overs with Rajiv Gosine, batting at No 9 top-scoring with 14. Aaron Sinanan made 13 as they plunged from 12 for one wicket to 29 for five, and never really recovered in their run chase.
Doing the destruction for Central Zone were Jayden Seales who snared four for 28 in six overs and Emilo Gopaul who returned bowling figures of four for 16 in five overs as their team romped to victory buy a massive 200 runs.
At the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain, East Zone kept their nerve and booked their place in the semifinals with an impressive batting and bowling performance to defeat North by 60 runs after posting 244 all out in 49.5 overs.
In reply North capitulated for 184 all out in 45.4 overs.
For East, in with a chance to reach their third Shell Inter Zone final of the 2017 season, Sachin Seecharan blasted 86 and got valuable support from Aaron Mairam (36) and Nathaniel McDavid (25).
The North bowlers worked in tandem and were well-rewarded, with Joshua Dookie (3/32), Wendell George (4/46) and Joshua Wilson (3/46) combining to give their team a chance of victory on the historic Oval ground.
But the spoils belonged to the East bowlers, led by Mairam with the astonishing figures of three wickets for ten runs in seven overs and four balls with one maiden; while Sameer Ali snatched two for 40 in eight overs.
They were well supported by Te-Shawn Alleyne, McDavid and Kristan Kallicharan claiming one wicket apiece to complete an emphatic victory.
And South-East Zone staked their claim for a berth in the championship match with a five-wicket win against South-West at the Sancho Recreation Ground in St Julien Village in Princes Town.
Batting first, South-West reached 137 all out in 35.4 overs helped by Jamal Ramnath who made 33 and Rodney Sieunarine (22), but it was not enough for South-East who reached their target of 138 in just 23.3 overs for the loss of five wickets.
Jace Assoon struck an undefeated 54 to lead the run chase while Antonio Bebe contributed 33.
The top South-East bowlers were Michael Dindial who had figures of four for 34, while Justin
Gangoo took two for 28 and Tariq Abdul claimed two for 24.
South U-13 screening today
The South Zonal Council will host their U-13 screening session this morning at the Syne Village cricket ground in Penal from 9am.
Chairman of the Zone, Chaitram Ramjitsingh said that he has a packed programme in place for the U-13 cricketers leading up to the Shell Under-13 Interzone tournament and from today, the process will start. He is urging parents to be on time with their children so that newly appointed coach Keshava Ramphal and the other selectors can have a good look at them. South Zone has enjoyed a good season so far in the Shell series winning the Under-15 and Under-17 titles.
Bandoo spinning a web in school’s cricket
Fourteen-year-old Ryan Bandoo, a form three student of Naparima College, is spinning a web around batsmen he encounters in the PowerGen Secondary Schools cricket league.
A disciplined young man from Orange Valley, Couva, Bandoo said: “I am proud to represent my school at the SSCL Premiership Level.
Making his debut for the senior team recently against Shiva Boys College he was excited to get into action. Batting at number eight he recalled Naps were 186 for 7 and he got instruction from his coach to bat with National U 19 player Cephas Cooper to achieved the team goal of 250 plus. With Cooper and himself they achieved the team’s goal with a partnership of 66 runs, while he scored just 10 not out, he showed maturity that belied his age.
His coaches at Naparima is calling him the next Inshan Ali with his left arm orthodox/china man. He helped his team finish third in the competition and obtained 11 wickets from five matches. Bandoo plays for Clico Presyal Cricket Club and he says his favourite player is New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.