South Zone staged a remarkable comeback against South East to claim a nerve racking four-run win in their opening match of the Shell Interzone Under-17 tournament at Syne Village in Penal.
South batting first made 123 for nine of their allotted 40 overs with Kovid Bispath making a topscore of 17. He was ably assisted by Jacen Agard who made 16.
South East led by good batting from skipper Khaleem Mohammed with 36 was at time one well placed at 80/3.
However, national under-15 player Avalon Changoor sparked a great revival for the Southerns, who grabbed the last seven wickets for just 39 runs.
Changoor found a great partner in off-spinner Kendall Poochoon. Changoor took 3/18 of eight overs, while Poochoon showed great control is taking 4/31.
Riyaad Mohammed also did his part by claiming 2/15. South will look to continue their good work when they hosts Central at Syne Village, Penal today.
In the other Group A match, Central Zone defeated South West after making a huge 290/9. South West in reply was bowled out for 63 giving Central a huge 227-run win. In Group B, North ran away winners against North East by 16 runs at Fatima ground.
North batted first and scored 176 in their 40 overs. In reply East gave a good fight but was
East also made a fine start to the tournament when they easily defeated Tobago by seven wickets at Honeymoon Park. Tobago took first strike and was humbled for 93 runs.
East then made light work of the target getting home at 96/3.
Scores
SHELL INTERZONE U-13 CRICKET SCORES
n Group A: At Syne Village: South 123/9 (40) (Kovid Bispath 16, Jacen Agard 15, Aidan Racha 2/5) vs South East 119 all out (Khaleem Mohammed 36, Kendall Poochoon 4/31, Avalon Changoor 3/18, Riyaad Mohammed 2/15) - South won by 4 runs.
n At Munroe Rd: Central 290/9 (40) (Justin Jaggessar 58, R Perriera 42no, Dillon Balkaran 37, Nick Ramlal 31 ) vs South West 63 all out (J Agard 24, R Pereirra 5/13)—Central won by 227 runs.
n Group B: At Fatima: North 176 vs North East 160 all out—North won by 16 runs.
n At Honeymoon Park: Tobago 93 all out vs East 96/3—Tobago won by 7 wkts.