Police signaled their intent to challenge for another title by winning their first game yesterday in the North Zone Cricket Council’s 40 overs competition. Police, who went largely unchallenged in the league were set back on Matchday 3 when their Group A match against Bourg Mulatresse was abandoned because of rain.
Group A Action
Playing on their home ground at the Barracks in St. James, the lawmen took on Group A leaders Invincible and came away with a comfortable seven-wicket win.
In a match reduced to 30 overs because of a wet spot on the wicket, Police won the toss and elected to field and restricted Invincible to 139-6. Police then made good their chase, getting to the target in 19.1 overs for the loss of just three wickets.
Reinaldo Sammy, batting at number three, led the chase with 53 not out from 46 deliveries and shared in a third wicket stand of 57 with Antonio Gonzales. Sammy struck 8 fours while Gonzales hit 3 fours and 1 six in his 31 from 27 balls. Imran Hosein and Brandon Ramdial scored 14 and 31 respectively and Kerron Simmons was not out on 8. For Invincible, Ramesh Dhanraj took 2-37 from eight overs while Miguel Mahabir took the other wicket to fall at a cost of forty-four runs.
Earlier, Brent Granado made a top score of 31 for the visiting Invincible and opener Jerome Simpson got to 30. Ramesh Dhanraj 19, Kevin Singh 16, and Stephon Marcano 12 all got starts but were undermined by some good bowling from Darius Besai and Dion Wells. Besai leading the way with 3-27, while Wells took 2-34. Antonio Gonzales also got into the wicket’s column with 1-22.
Invincible Stays on Top
Invincible, despite the loss, remain at the top of Group A with six points while Police take their points tally to four and sit in second. Police can, however, top the group with a win in their final game against Paragon on Saturday, the final Matchday of the group phase.
In the other encounter in Group A, Bourg Mulatresse CCC hosted Paragon Sports and Cultural Club at the Ato Boldon Grounds in San Juan on Saturday, Paragon came away winners by virtue of a higher run rate through 24 overs.
Bourg Mulatresse batted first and posted 229 for the loss of four wickets from 29 overs. The hosts had Nicholas Baptiste to thank for their final score as he plundered the Paragon bowling to all parts with a brutal 93 runs from 56 balls, which included 11 fours and 5 sixes. Baptiste shared in an unbroken stand of 127 with Mark Apparicio who made 27. Aaron Dass 38, Nicholas Boodoo 32 and Keron Balbosa 18 were also among the runs. Sheldon Homer-Bayley took 2-43, Nigel Benjamin and Roger Lewis picked up one wicket apiece.
Paragon, in their turn at bat, got to 222-7 when the umpires called the match due to bad light. At that point, 24 overs were bowled and by virtue of having more runs than ‘Bourg’ at the 24 over mark, Paragon were awarded the victory. Brent Lezama led the way for the visitors with a well played 64 from 36 balls, inclusive of 7 fours and 4 sixes. Nigel Benjamin and Junior Mearns also made meaningful contributions with 28 and 34 respectively to make sure Paragon were ahead when the umpires called time. Shawn Cort was the best bowler for ‘Book’ with figures of 3-9 from two overs.
In Group B:
Barataria Ball Players made light work of their match against Combine All Stars at the Barataria Recreation Ground on Saturday. The hosts bundled out their opponents for a measly 52 with only openers Ray Campbell 10 and Earnil Ryan 12 getting into double figures. Barataria needed just four bowlers to complete the rout with Derron Wilson, Vaughn Brown and Joey Samuel taking three wickets each, while Carl Vialva was the other bowler among the wickets.
In reply, Marlon Phillip led the way with 26 not out as Barataria knocked off the runs in 16.1 overs, for the loss of two wickets.
Barataria, on six points from two matches, are assured of top spot in Group B with a final matchday fixture against Pole 9, who are without a point in the group.
Combine All Stars and Savannah Boys have completed their full complement of games in the group phase and are second and third in the group with four points each.
On Sunday, Savannah Boys edged out Pole 9 by three wickets also at the Barataria Recreation Ground. In another low-scoring affair, Pole 9 batting first, were all out for 94 from 24 overs with only three batters getting into double digits. Abdool Saied Razack was the standout bowler for Savannah Boys with figures of 6-33.
Savannah Boys made the chase look hard, losing seven wickets but eventually got to the target in 21.1 overs. Sameer Ali, batting at the top of the order, was the mainstay of their innings with an obdurate 41 from 61 balls.
In Group C:
North Coast United with seven points from three matches, have an unassailable lead in this Group C. The Maracas based team made sure of top spot with a masterclass against Shannon Sports Club on Saturday winning by a mammoth 210 runs at the Brian Lara Recreation Ground on Saturday.
Batting first, North Coast posted a competitive 259 all out of 27.3 overs with Kendall Guerra blasting 115 from 73 balls. Guerra’s innings included 6 fours and 6 sixes and together with Junior James put on 104 runs for the fourth wicket. James contributed just 22, such was the dominance of Guerra. Terrance James 29, batting at number two, was the only other batsman to get past 20. Bally Rajaram was the pick of the bowlers taking 8 wickets at a cost of 105 runs. Tarriq Mitchell was the other successful bowler taking 2-67.
In their reply, Shannon were never in the chase and were all out for a paltry 49 with only opener Kernel Edwards scoring in double figures, he made 14. For North Coast, Claude De Vignes was the main destroyer with figures of 5-16 while Darrell Dennison took 3-9. Two of Shannon’s batsmen were unable to bat.
The other Group C match, played on Sunday also at the Santa Cruz ground, saw Glenora Sports Club pip hosts Santa Cruz on a better run rate through 29 overs.
Batting first, Santa Cruz posted 187-7 from 32 overs with a top score of 61 from opener Devon Sween. In reply, Glenora only got to 184 but umpires called the game after 29 overs, again because of poor light and because Glenora were ahead of Santa Cruz after 29 overs, and won the contest on a faster run rate.
Likely Last Four At A Glance:
Group winners – Barataria Ball Players, and North Coast United, thus far.
Best second place – Police or Invincible, based on the outcome of the Police vs Paragon clash. Should Police defeat Paragon, Police will win the group. Invincible will then take second place in that group and, based on Invincible’s positive NRR of +0.421, it is likely they will take the best second place. If rain intervenes Invincible will win the group with Police second.
Invincible Cricket Club and Police at the moment are the only teams with a positive NRR that can run second in any group.
With only the top ten teams from the 40 overs competition qualifying to participate in the Upcoming T20, Shannon and Santa Cruz are in danger of missing out. The only upside for them is they still have a game in hand against each other on the final Match Day with both teams looking for a massive win.
Fixtures: Match Day 6 – May 6th
Group A: Police vs Paragon at Police Barracks
Group B: Barataria Ball Players vs Pole 9 at Barataria Recreation Ground
Group C: Santa Cruz vs Shannon Sports Club at Brian Lara Recreation Ground
Points Standings
