Pole 9 and Savannah Boys produced dominant victories as Group A got underway in the 2024 North Zone T20 Tournament.
Mark Sankar and Teshawn Castro blasted Savannah Boys to an upset win over highly-fancied Santa Cruz by six wickets with 32 balls to spare on Thursday.
A day earlier, Wendell Samuel’s superb half-century helped Pole 9 turn aside the challenge of QPCC by 23 runs.
Their victories follow wins by Barataria Ball Players and Paragon Sports Club in Group B earlier in the week.
Savannah Boys’ victory was set up by a disciplined bowling performance by their bowling unit.
They restricted a Santa Cruz batting line up, that includes former Test star Darren Bravo (37), to 131 for 6 in 20 overs.
Vishan Jaggessar (1/23) and Kamil Pooran (1/23) led the way, with none of their five bowlers conceding more than 28 runs in their four overs.
Sankar (45 off 34) and Castro (25 off 15) then compounded Savannah Boys’ dominant position with 71 for the first wicket off only 35 balls.
With 61 needed off the remaining 85 balls, Savannah Boys cantered to victory despite losing four wickets for 29 runs at a dicey stage in the match.
Jagessar (16 not out) and Pradeem Ali (13 not out) prevailed over the chaos to win the match for Savannah Boys with 5.2 overs still unused.
Donovan Stripp (2/13) was the bright spark for Santa Cruz in a disappointing loss for the joint North Zone 40-over title winners.
On Wednesday, Pole 9 overpowered QPCC with Samuel and Nicholas Elliot playing a major part in the victory.
The pair put on 84 for the first wicket off only 8.3 overs with Samuel peppering the boundary ropes with 66 off 42 balls.
Bradley Boodoo had a brilliant time with the ball for QPCC taking 4 for 17 in his four overs.
The Parkites lost their opening three batsmen for 27 runs in 4.4 overs before Kwesi Fournillieur (39) put on 79 for the fourth wicket with Andre Suglal (39).
However, after both departed with the score at 111 for 5 in 15 overs, QPCC lacked the firepower to blast through the last 51 runs in the last five overs.
The Parkites only managed 27 runs off their last five overs with Shawn Sakan (1/30) and Vernie Ramkissoon (1/22) putting the brakes on their effort.
Elliot had 3 for 24 dismissing top-scorer Fournillieur after making early inroads into the QPCC batting line-up.
Savannah Boys and QPCC will meet on 21 July, while Santa Cruz will take on North Side Future Stars on 20 July.
Pole 9 is on a bye for the second round of Group A action.
