Latisha Samuels’ quick-fire knock pushed North Zone Academy to a four-wicket win over Brenda Solozano Cricket Academy (BSCA) on Sunday to register their maiden win in the Trinidad and Tobago Women’s Cricket League Championship Division T20 tournament.
Sarah Sahadath, Kimora Daniel, and Charlotte Mack combined to stifle BSCA in the middle overs to keep the victory target to 103.
Naomi Ali gave North Zone a positive start to the run-chase before Samuel and Tejal Ramsewak overcame a dicey situation to cinch victory with an attacking 20 not out off 19 balls.
North Zone opened their campaign with a 44-run loss to Victoria Cricket Club, and their win over BSCL has kept their title hopes alive.
Former West Indies batter Solozano won the toss and elected to bat at Ben Lomond Recreation Ground in Reform.
The 1997 Hero Honda Women’s World Cup veteran was forced to come to the crease after the first legal ball of the match.
Aishani Ramsewak bowled opener Arabella Singh ushering Solozano in to join Kamla Ramdath-Cumming.
The partnership quickly bore fruit with the pair adding 45 for the second wicket at 8.40 an over.
However just as BSCA seemed ready to take full advantage of their position, North Zone battled back to take three wickets for 19 runs to take the upper hand in the contest.
First, Sarah Sahadath bowled Ramdath-Cumming for 18 off 25 balls, before Mack ran out Solozano for a battling 19 off 42 balls.
Ishana Dass came and went quickly for 5 via the run-or route with Sahadath alert to the chance to remove the BSCA batter.
North Zone retained their dominant position in the game with Daniel splattering Siara Mohammed’s stumps for 4.
However, they faced some resistance from Annalisa Manoo, who came in at the fall of the third wicket and added an invaluable 21 for the sixth wicket with Trishala Dwarika.
Dwarika, on 2, became the third run-out victim of the BSCA innings before Manoo fell (14 off 30 balls) off the last ball of the 20th over.
BLCA’s 102 for 7 would require North Zone to score at just over five runs an over to win the contest and register their first win in the T20 format.
Daniel had 1 for 13 in her three overs, while Sahadath took 1 for 17 off her full complement of four overs.
Mack bowled a miserly four-over spell of 0 for 14 to help restrict BLCA’s scoring in the middle overs.
However, an old nemesis raised its ugly head in the North Zone bowling effort; they conceded 40 extras with 29 wides and 11 no-balls.
Nervous energy in the North Zone dressing room was quickly exposed when Sahadath was run out for 3 off the last ball of the third over.
Another blossoming partnership was nipped in the bud as Naomi Ali, who had started to find her groove in the company of number three batter Charlotte Mack, fell for 19 off 27 balls to Solozano.
Mack departed just after for 9, LBW to Arabella Phillip, while Seraiah Kawalsingh quickly followed caught by Manoo off Solozano’s bowling.
North had lost their top order for 53 runs and the situation was dire as Samuel walked to the crease to join Tejal Ramsewak.
The pair quickly brought urgency and momentum to the North Zone chase.
They took control of the game with a lion-hearted partnership of 37 off 31 balls.
With Samuel going along at a run-a-ball, the stand took North Zone to within 23 runs of victory before Ramsewak, who got to 15 off 26 balls, was bowled by Phillip.
Daniel joined Samuel and struck two fours in her 12 off 12 balls before departing run-out, with victory just around the corner.
New batter Aishani Ramsewak came to the crease and never faced a ball as Samuel knocked off the remaining runs to carry North Zone to victory with 16 balls to spare.
Samuel ended on 20 not out off 19 balls, a deserving candidate for Player of the Match.
For BSCA, Phillip (2/14) and Solozano (2/17) were the only wicket-takers in the loss.
North Zone women are back in action on Sunday with a doubleheader at the Brian Lara Recreation Ground in Santa Cruz.
They take on the Moses Lendore Cricket Academy at 10am before battling Seetahal Young Stars at 2pm.
Summarized scores: BSCA 102 for 7 in 20.0 overs (Brenda Solozano 19, Kamla Ramdath Cumming 18, Annalisa Manoo 14; Tejal Ramsewak 1/3, Kimora Daniel 1/13, Sarah Sahadath 1/17) vs. North Zone 103 for 6 in 17.2 overs (Latisha Samuel 20*, Naomi Ali 19, Tejal Ramsewak 15; Arabella Phillip 2/14, Brenda Solozano 2/17). North Zone won by four wickets.
North Zone: Sarah Sahadath (captain), Naomi Ali, Charlotte Mack, Tejal Ramsewak, Seraiah Kawalsingh, Latisha Samuel, Kimora Daniel, Aishani Ramsewak, Angel Jada Bishop, Laryah Guiseppi, Rehanna Ragoonanan
