LED BY THEIR trio of spinners in Kevlon Anderson, Kelvin Omroa and Pradesh Balkissoon, the National Under-15 team yesterday defeated the United States of America Cricket Association Academy Under-15 lineup by five wickets at the Georgetown cricket Club ground.Winning the toss and opting to bat first, USACA Under-15 raced to 32 without loss before the introduction of the spinners saw them catapulting for 73, with Nand Kishan Das topscoring with 19, as Anderson (4 for 11), Omroa (4 for 19) and Balkissoon (2 for 5) did the damage with the ball.
In reply, the National Under-15 team who is the reigning West Indies Cricket Board Regional Under-15 champions replied with 75 for 5 from 19.3 overs, thanks to 16 each from Alphius Bookie and Sachin Singh and unbeaten 12 from skipper Ashmead Nedd, as Ronak Patel took 2 for 9 and Sanjay Jonathan 2 for 18.
When USACA Under-15 batted, openers Das and Praneel Jadhav added 32 for the first wicket, with Das hitting both Qumar Torrington and Haifa Walters for boundaries as he was the more aggressive of the two.
Balkissoon was introduced into the attack in the seventh over while Omroa followed in the eighth and together they not only stifled the visitors batting lineup, but took wickets at regular intervals during their 20 overs spell which when ended saw USACA Under-15 on 52 for 6.
Das was bowled by Omroa after hitting three fours in his 19, while Jadhav (08) and Sanjay Jonathan (04) were both caught by Bookie at mid off, when they looked to hit Omroa over the top, while Daoud Mohammed (00) and Humzah Babar Khan (02) were sent back in quick succession at 49 for 5.
They were followed by Aman Patel (06) who was sent back by Balkissoon at 50 for 6 in the 25th over, before the introduction of Anderson saw the remaining four wickets going down for 23 runs from 17.2 overs.
In their reply, the home team slipped to 14 for 2, losing both Junior Sinclair (04) and Robin Williams (09) to Jonathan and Sanjesh Reddy, while Orlando Jailall (00), who was in an ultra defensive mode, was bowled by Jonathan, who breached his forward defensive prod with ease to knock his off stump at 23 for 3.
Bookie and Sachin Singh pushed the score to 55, with Singh hitting Jonathan and Michael Katwaroo for boundaries, even as Bookie also struck Katwaroo for four, following which they were both dismissed by Ronak Patel at 55 and 62 respectively.
It was the last success for the visitors who play the same opposition today at the Police Sports Club ground, as Nedd and Anderson saw their team to victory with Nedd being unbeaten on 12 and Anderson 6.