The much-anticipated clash between Police Sports Club and Santa Cruz Sports Association in the North Zone T20 tournament at the Diego Martin Sporting Facility was not to be. Rain forced the opening match of the tournament to be abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Official Opening
The inclement weather, however, did not stop the official opening of the tournament. Member of Parliament for St. Ann’s East, Dr. Nyan Gadsby-Dolly met the players from both teams and encouraged them to have an exciting and enjoyable tournament. Her support will, however, be with her constituents, Santa Cruz Sports Association. Also at the official opening were General Secretary of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board, Altaf Baksh, Chairperson of the Sport and Culture Fund-Office of the Prime Minister, Debra Coryat-Patton, and Chairman of the Diego Martin Regional Corporation, Sigler Jack.
Game Two
After the showers subsided, umpires Avinash Narine and Ryan John spoke with the captains of Glenora Sports Club and Invincible Cricket Club and they braved the soggy conditions and played the game, which started promptly at 6:30 pm.
Invincible skipper Raphael Ali won the toss and inserted Glenora. Glenora took advantage of some poor opening overs by Invincible and got off to a healthy start. Openers Jesse Roland (16) and Isaiah Ali (12) scored 36 before the fall of the first wicket. Glenora’s innings continued with a good run rate after losing both openers in the space of one run to Raphael Ali, who had figures of 2/33 from his 4 overs.
Gavin DeVerteuil (3/26) was the best bowler for Invincible. Dusty Joseph then took over and punished the Invincible bowlers for a top score of 60 from 43 balls. Philton Williams added 26 n/o from his 10 deliverers to help post a challenging 179/5 in Glenora’s 20 overs.
The reply from Invincible started slowly with Kevin Singh 39 from 41 balls and Shamir Ali 16 from 15 balls. Their innings never got going and eventually got to 140/7 in their 20 overs. Glenora won by 39 runs.
Left-arm spinner Darren Deonarine took 3 for 20 and was the main destroyer for Glenora.
The tournament continues on Tuesday, June 7 with Pole 9 taking on Barataria Ball Players from 6:30 pm at the Diego Martin Sporting Facility.