Kaiden Pollard hit an unbeaten fifty while Josiah Nicholas took five wickets to lead North to a five-wicket win over North-East in the TTCB U15 Youth Tournament at the Brian Lara Recreation Ground, Santa Cruz.
Nicholls took 5 for 43 as North dismissed North-East for 166 in 39. 4 overs.
Pollard, the son of former West Indies star Kieron Pollard, then hit 53 not out off 97 balls and added 67 with Nicholls (19) to lead North home by five wickets with 17 balls to spare.
North, who went down by 36 runs to East in their opening round match, are now back in contention for a place in the semifinals of the tournament.
In their first-round match at Santa Cruz, North turned in a solid bowling performance, restricting East to 132 in 41.1 overs.
However, they faltered with the bat, failing to build significant partnerships before crashing out for 96 in 34.4 overs.
North-East started with a win in the first round, crushing Tobago by 132 runs at Shaw Park.
On Wednesday at Santa Cruz, North-East made a good start after winning the toss and opting to bat at Brian Lara Recreation Ground.
North East opener Ancil Bascom (23) dominated a first-wicket partnership of 40 with Roshan Boodoo (11) before Tariq Richards chipped in with 15 to nurse their team to 95 for 3.
However, the introduction of Nicholls transformed the face of the North-East effort with a triple-wicket strike in the 21st over.
Nicholls bowled Nick Manickram for 14 before having Nathaniel Edwards caught first ball for a duck.
Jayden Mohammed got a double off the next ball to avert the hat-trick before he was caught next ball by Pollard for 2.
Nicholls and Pollard then teamed up again to dismiss Zachary Stewart (23) to leave North-East tottering at 116 for 7.
Nyon Holder then hit 27 not out and coaxed 50 runs out of the final three batsmen before Nicholls returned to claim a five-for and end the North East innings for 166.
After failing to chase down 133 in their previous game, there would have been some trepidation in the North dressing room as they began their hunt for 167 for victory.
The early dismissal of Abdiel Boland (5) would not have helped.
However, a partnership of 33 between Josiah Roberts and Aadam Panchu would have done much to settle the nerves.
Stewart, who had bowled Roberts for 24, then returned to bowl Davis Guerra for a duck to leave North in some disarray at 56 for 3.
Panchu went shortly after for 22 and North was 68 for 4 in the 24th over.
His dismissal brought Kaiden Pollard and Nicholls together for what turned out to be the definitive partnership of the innings.
The pair added 67 in 96 balls for the fifth wicket before Nicholls went for 19.
Pollard and new batsman Austin Lukur then set about chasing down the 32 runs needed for victory.
Pollard dominated the stand which stretched over 52 balls, before he brought up his fifty.
Lukur did his part, scoring 9 not out off 28 balls as North ran out winners by five wickets.
North plays Tobago in their final match on 9 February and can qualify for the semifinals of the tournament with a win.
In other matches, East confirmed their place in the semifinals with a 196-run win over Tobago.
Brian Harricharan hit 59 not out and N. Sagar 3 for 16 for East in the victory.
Central also booked their place in the semifinals as they beat South West by 136 runs.
Sanjay Naidoo hit 57, while Daron Dhanraj (3/7), K’hill Thomas (3/9), and Reyad Jerome (3/20) did the bulk of the damage in the victory for Central.
2024 TTCB U15 Youth Tournament
Round 1
North East beat Tobago by 132 runs
East beat North by 36 runs
Central beat South East by 9 runs
South beat South West by 8 wickets
Round 2 – 7 February
East beat Tobago by 196 runs
North beat North East by five wickets
Central beat South West by 136 runs
South vs South East
Round 3 – 9 February
North East vs East
Tobago vs North
South vs Central
South East vs South West
Semifinals – 16 February
Winner A vs Runner-up B
Winner B vs Runner-up A
Final – 23 February
Points Table
