KADOO K.O.’S “COMPRE”

North Zone Secondary school’s cricket has predominantly been highlighted by famous names from colleges such as Fatima, St. Mary’s and QRC. The cricket program at Tranquillity Secondary, however, can claim its fair share of talented players, some of whom have gone on to International super stardom like D.J. Bravo and Kieron Pollard. In 2016, the cricketing torch at Tranquillity was being ably carried by young Ravi Kadoo.

On March 17th Tranquillity would square off against East Mucurapo Secondary in a PowerGen SSCL U-16 match that had an extra twist to it. Whilst Ravi Kadoo was representing Tranquillity, his younger cousin Sachin Emrit was on the ‘Compre’ team and the family rivalry lent a little added spice to the day’s battle. Kadoo won the toss and immediately decided to bat first, which was the worst possible start for Mucurapo because their leading strike bowler, the left-arm quick Michael Deane, was nursing a sore back and would only be available to bat. The Tranquillity skipper would take full advantage of this together with his opening partner J. James as they kept the score moving along briskly, each counting 4 boundaries in their first 20 runs.

With the first 6 overs yielding no success for the “Compre” attack, younger cousin Emrit took the ball and with his second over, the 9th of the innings, he broke the opening partnership with the score on 44, trapping James L.B.W. for 20. The 2nd wicket, D. Pollard also L.B.W. to Emrit, brought E. McIntosh out to the middle to join skipper Kadoo, who was on 27. Their partnership began to steadily flourish as Kadoo took charge, farming the strike off his cousin’s bowling as much as possible until Emrit himself had to take a much needed rest. The pair put on 49 valuable runs, with Kadoo bringing up his half-century in the process, until Mucurapo turned once more to their opening bowlers and got the wicket of McIntosh bowled in the 20th over.

Kadoo began looking to up his own tempo as the cut-off time for the Tranquillity innings approached but having already been in the middle for 21 overs, the heat and humidity finally got to him and he was run out trying for a second run in the 22nd over. His 64 came with 9 lovely boundaries and represented exactly half of his team’s total at that point. The Tranquillity total would benefit from some wayward death bowling by the “Compre” lads as they tried to fill out the quota of overs the injured Deane would have supplied, giving away 23 extras to allow Tranquillity to close on a respectable 154-7. Emrit was the pick of the lot, claiming 2-27 in his 6 overs, but as the Mucurapo outfit prepared to chase down their target, his thoughts were no doubt already turned towards how his bat could influence the result.

Whereas their counterparts were off-target earlier, the Tranquillity opening bowlers had no such problems, with the pace of James and spin of S. Douglas causing early havoc for the batting line up. James struck in his 1st and 2nd overs to dismiss both openers and when Douglas had J. Batson neatly stumped by a jubilant Kadoo, the Mucurapo score stood at 24-3 in the 5th over. Sachin Emrit, at the non-striker’s end on 5, must have been praying for a miracle. In new batsman Arun Sooknanan, he would find a solid ally. The pair of then, easily the smallest players on the field in terms of physical stature, slowly ground out a 41-run partnership through the next 8 overs. Just when it seemed they had set a good enough platform to push towards a victory, a second stumping by Kadoo accounted for Sooknanan. A clearly discomforted Deane came in and tried his best to contribute, but his dismissal in the 15th over left Mucurapo on 79-5 with Emrit on 20 and quickly running out of both time and partners.

By this point, Kadoo had relinquished the keeping gloves and taken up the attack, knowing fully well that the wicket of his younger cousin would all but seal Compre’s fate. Much like he himself had done when batting earlier, this time it was Emrit’s turn to farm the bowling, opting to face the majority of Kadoo’s deliveries himself. The plan worked beautifully until the 18th over, when a lovely leg-break from Kadoo just beat the edge of the bat and cannoned into Emrit’s stumps, bowling him for 26. In a knock that spanned 16 overs, the young Emrit had taken no risks, grafting hard for every run, and scoring not a single boundary. As he trudged dejectedly off the field, the chances of a Mucurapo victory seemed to go with him. Indeed, the innings would fold in short order for 111, but not before Kadoo would have time to once more don the wicketkeeper’s gloves to complete his 3rd stumping of the game.

Ravi Kadoo claimed victory not only for his team, but also himself in the rivalry with his younger cousin. A match top score, followed by 3 stumpings and 1 wicket represented quite a complete performance and ensured that the elder cousin could enjoy the bragging rights over his younger relative for at least another season.