HARRILAL – A NEW HOLY NAME HEROINE

The list of cricketing accolades for Holy Name Convent POS in the past 5 years is, in a word, impressive. Four Senior North Zone titles; three Junior North Zone titles; two National Intercol runners-up places; one National Junior title and one National Junior runners-up spot. Add to this the fact that one of their players went on to represent Trinidad and Tobago at the Regional Women’s U-20 tournament – a title which Team T&T won in 2018 and 2019 – and it’s quite easy to see why the “HNC” cricket program has gained steady notice in local Secondary School circles. The school’s success even has young girls with a love for cricket listing Holy Name as their first-choice school when sitting the S.E.A. exams. So begins the story of Zakiyah Harrilal.

Coming from a family full of passion for all forms of sport, Zakiyah naturally found herself engaging in multiple sporting disciplines from a very young age. Her love of cricket led her to Holy Name Convent, where she entered Form 1 in September 2019 after her successful S.E.A. exam. The Harrilal name is no stranger to North Zone cricket: her dad played for St. Mary’s College in his day and her older brother Arshad not only represents the same school but was also the captain of the North Zone U-15 team this year. As is the custom between siblings, the Harrilal kids have a fierce competitive rivalry that pushes each to strive for success. Zakiyah was adamant that her brother would not be the only Harrilal to make waves on the cricket field and she set about her task with tremendous determination. Her commitment, ability and hard work saw her earn a spot on the HNC Senior team. Standing at less than 5 feet tall and weighing it at way under 100 pounds, young Zakiyah was about to prove that she was quite the pint-sized dynamo indeed.

In her debut match vs St. Joseph’s Convent, Zakiyah was given the responsibility of opening the bowling in tandem with the experienced Gabrielle Doopan. She rewarded her coaches with figures of 4 overs, 1 for 17, contributing well to restricting SJC to 98-8 in their 20 overs. For the HNC run chase, she was asked to continue this momentum by opening the batting, to which she responded with an unbeaten 22 off 25 balls as Holy Name won by 8 wickets. The die, as they say, was cast and she would become the team’s permanent opening bowler and batter. Her second game against Blanchisseuse Secondary brought bowling figures of 4 overs, 2 for 18 and 12 not out as HNC ran riot once more, dismissing their opponents for 57 and winning without losing a wicket. As good as she had been thus far, the younger Harrilal was just getting started.

In the final game against East Mucurapo, the opportunity to bat first arrived and she grasped it with both hands. Showing a level of maturity beyond her years and an already shrewd cricketing brain, Zakiyah played the perfect complementary innings to her opening partner Havana’s aggression as the pair posted 129 for their first wicket partnership. She would go on to bat until the 18^th over, when exhaustion finally got the better of her fighting spirit and she was run out for an excellent 52 off 51 balls – a maiden half century in only her 3^rd game for her school and at the Senior level to boot. Given her small physical stature, Zakiyah realized early on that hitting the boundaries was not her strength. She instead crafted an innings that contained 20 singles, 6 twos and 4 threes while still picking up 2 boundaries to finish with a strike rate of 102. It is worth remembering that her previous 2 innings were both not out and since this one ended via the run-out route Zakiyah can proudly claim that no bowler has been able to dismiss her for the season.

With such immense talent and potential already on display in her fledgling career, young Zakiyah is poised to become not only a star for Holy Name Convent but even beyond the realm of schools’ cricket. To say that she has risen to the challenge laid down by her older sibling is definitely an understatement. The SSCL North Zone salutes Zakiyah Harrilal as our Star of the Week.