BATTLE ON FOR THIRD IN NORTH ZONE SENIOR DIVISION
Police (170 points) having secured the Senior Division title with a round to go and Barataria Ball Players (134 points) already safe in second place, the race is on for third with one match still to play, a rescheduled Round 1 fixture between North Coast and Paragon.
Santa Cruz currently holds down the third spot on the standings with 71 points, seven points clear of North Coast. North Coast, with 64 points, just need a win of any kind in order to leapfrog Santa Cruz into third and into the prizes. Apart from knowing exactly what they need out of the game, there is the added advantage of playing at home in Maracas on the Grand Fond road ground.
Rain affected round
In the previous round, both North Coast and Santa Cruz were on the wrong side of a rain-affected weekend. North Coast gave up first innings to Savannah Boys and Santa Cruz suffered a similar fate against Barataria. Paragon have not had the best of seasons and have not instilled much fear in opponents. Spending most of their time in the bottom half of the table and currently occupy the sixth spot with 42 points. Their only bright spot came in Round 6 when they completed an outright win against Fatima. The Savannah-based Paragon squad would be hoping that they saved their best cricket for last while North Coast will be hoping otherwise.
With an outright win and maximum bonus points (28), Paragon could finish as high as fourth, ahead of both Savannah Boys and Santa Cruz. They need 12 points to replace Savannah Boys in fifth.
In North Coast’s case, getting eight points could see them finish third.
Police by virtue of winning the division, will be promoted to the TTCB Premier Division 11, and Fatima (26 points), after finishing at the bottom of the table, will be relegated to Division One in 2024.
Glenora finished the league in seventh spot with 37 points.
Round 7 Results:
Police won by default against Fatima to finish the season on 170 points
Barataria 403-5 won on first innings against Santa Cruz 179-9 & 40-1
Savannah Boys 158 and 244 won on first innings against North Coast 131 & 65-6
Glenora 195 against Paragon 59-5, the match ending in a no result.
TO CLOSE TO CALL IN NORTH ZONE DIVISION ONE
With one round to go in Division One of the North Zone, there is all to play for, as any of the top three teams can win the division title and earn a promotion into the Senior Division.
After six rounds of competition, Shannon Sports Club lead the standings with 65 points, seven points ahead of Pole 9 and Invincible in second and third respectively on 58. Combined All Stars are a further two points behind on 56 points in fourth and could have also been in the title conversation had their previous fixture with Bourg Mulatresse not lost an entire day due to rain.
Shannon will do battle with Pole 9 at Savannah Boys Ground, Queen’s Park Savannah, while Invincible will be at home to Bourg Mulatresse also at the Queen’s Park Savannah. If Shannon can come away with an outright win, they will maintain the top spot and be up for promotion. If Shannon win on first innings, that could leave the back door open for Invincible. A Pole 9 and Invincible win would really make things interesting, depending on the manner and margins of victory. While Bourg have not had the best of seasons, Invincible cannot afford to take anything for granted, the San Juan outfit played their best game in Round 6 where they surprised Combined All-Stars by beating them on first innings.
All in all, it should be a most interesting weekend of North Zone Cricket.
Round 6 Results:
Invincible 150-5 won on first innings against Shannon 109-9 & 21-5
Pole 9 255-3 defeated St. Mary’s 54 & 99
Pole 9 – Riaz Mohammed, 147 n/o Rishi Mannah, 7/12
Bourg Mulatresse 243 won on first innings against Combined 122-1 declared
