… waltzes away with best batsman title

THANKS to an unbeaten half-century from opener Kandasammy Surujnarine, host club Albion Community Centre Cricket Club, easily defeated Port Mourant Cricket Club (PMCC) by seven wickets last Monday, to take the inaugural CARICOM Day ‘Albion Cup’ T20 title.

Winning the toss and opting to bat first, PMCC were bowled out by Albion’s all-spin attack for a measly 104 in 18.1 overs, with Davendra Thakurdeen 26 (2×4), Andrew Lyght Jr 19 ( 2×4), Lloydel Lewis 15 and Yogindra Harrinarine 13 (2×6) being their leading batsmen.
Gudakesh Motie-Kanhai and skipper Devendra Bishoo took 3 wickets each for 11 and 12 runs respectively, while Shiraz Ramcharran supported with 2 for 12 for Albion, who in reply reached 108 for 3 off 19.2 overs, with Surujnarine hitting an unbeaten 58 (56 balls, 3×4; 1×6), backed by David Latchaya’s 16 – the two sharing a 43-run third-wicket partnership.
Anthony Bramble, 18, had earlier added 54 for the second wicket with Surujnarine, after seeing the early demise of Balchand Baldeo who failed to trouble the scorers, courtesy of a diving catch by Lyght Jr at short cover off Manoj Looknauth (1 for 8).
In the first match of the day, Port Mourant won the toss and chose to bat first on a sluggish track which was waterlogged. They posted 99 for 6 from their quota of overs, thanks to Troy Gonsalves’ 37.
Gonsalves and Lyght (10) posted 21 for the first wicket from 2.1 overs, before a Shailendra Shameer’s direct hit from short midwicket, accounted for Lyght..
Together with Amir Khan (10), Gonsalves pushed the score to 69, before he (Gonsalves) holed out to Ashkay Homraj at deep midwicket off Troy Mathieson, having faced 28 balls, hitting two fours and one six that was struck back over the head of Shawn Pereira.
From 73 for 3, PMCC slipped to 73 for 5, losing Khan and Looknauth (3) to Pereira in the penultimate over, but a breezy 14 (4 balls) from Joshua Ramsammy, backed by Yogindra Harrinarine’s unbeaten 12, pushed them to 99 for 6 from their 12 overs, as Pereira ended with 2 for 19.
In reply, RHTGG slipped to 39 for 4 inside their first six overs, losing Homraj (3), Pestano (9), Delbert Hicks (4) and Eon Hooper (5), as the pace of Thakurdeen and Looknauth kept things tight in the power play overs, while Khan and Gonsalves maintained same with their leg-spin.
When Mathieson (2) was bowled by a faster delivery from Gonsalves in the 8th over at 47 for 5, RHTGG were staring straight down the barrel of defeat, despite the presence of Jason Sinclair, who operated as if he was playing a Test match and trying to save same for his team.
Needing to score 37 from 12 balls, RHTGG finished on 81 for 7, with Sinclair hitting the final delivery of their innings for 4, a little too late, to finish unbeaten on 35 (34 balls, 2×4) as Gonsalves took 3 for 21 to steer PMCC into the final. Michael Hicks (3) and Shameer (5) were the two batsmen to perish.
In the second match of the day, Albion won the toss and chose to bat first against Young Warriors, a decision that backfired on them as they slipped to 32 for 3 after 3 overs, losing Kandasammy Surujnarine (6), Anthony Bramble (1) and Balchand Baldeo 20 (2×4, 1×6), to Joemal LaFleur.
Despite this falter, Albion reached 91 for 6 off their 12 overs, thanks to Latchaya’s 21 and 17 from Veerapen Permaul as LaFleur ended with 3 for 20 for YWCC, who in reply lost Vishal Mohabir (4) off the fourth ball of the first over, Sasenarine Sookdeo (0) and Seon Hetmyer (4) to be 9 for 3.
With Motie-Kanhai picking up four of his five wickets in the eighth over and with support from Bishoo (2 for 5) and Permaul (2 for 7), YWCC were bowled out for 32 in 8.5 overs, with only Kevin Ramdeen 12 (1×6) reaching double figures.
While Surujnarine won the Man-of-the-Match and Best Batsman awards, Motie-Kanhai took the Best Bowler, having picked up a total of 8 for 13 including his best of 5 for 2, while Albion took home $50 000 and trophy and PMCC $25 000 and trophy.

(By Calvin Roberts)