…Guyana beat Barbados for bronze medal

(By Brij Parasnath in Trinidad & Tobago)TRINIDAD and Tobago youthful female cricketers were crowned Regional Under 19 champs when they defeated Windward Islands by 27 runs in the final of the Trinidad and Tobago Women Cricket Association (TTWCA) Invitational Under tournament contested at the National Cricket Centre, Balmain, Couva yesterday.
With their comfortable victory in the T20 final, the Trinidadian players also maintained their unbeaten record for this year’s series that involved three round-robin matches plus the semi-final encounter against Guyana on Friday.
Simultaneously, Guyana clinched the third place and celebrated their triumph over dethroned champs Barbados in their third-place play-off encounter at Gilbert Park, California, Couva yesterday.
Trinidad and Tobago batted first and amassed 101 for 4 in their allotted 20 overs after they had suffered early setbacks with the dismissal of two quick wickets with only 7 runs on the board.
Skipper Reniece Boyce was caught by Akita Alexander off Alyah Alfred for two runs (9balls) while fellow opener Shania Abdool was dismissed on the same total, caught by Kimone Homer off Qiana Joseph for three runs.
All-rounder Leandra Ramdeen joined Renna Farrow and together they stabilise the innings with a 26-run third wicket stand before Farrow departed for five.
Vice-captain Kamara Ragoobar eventually emerged as topscorer with a fighting unbeaten 36 that included one four off 38 balls. Together with Ramdeen, who made 28; shared an invaluable 46-run fourth wicket partnership that helped propelled Trinidad and Tobago to 101 for 4 off their allotted 20 overs.
Joseph (1-13), Alfred (1-22), Taylor Dickson (1-22) and Holly Charles (1-15) shared the wickets.
In reply, Trinidad and Tobago’s spinners Reana Farrow (4-1-17-3), Leandra Ramdeen (4-2-8-2), Kamara Ragoobar (4-0-10-1) and Renelle Dookie (3-0-9-1) combined to restrict Windwards to 78 for 8 in their allotted 20 overs and allowed the “Calypso Girls” to celebrate title victory by twenty seven runs.
All-rounder Ragoobar who topscored with an unbeaten 36 and claimed one wicket for ten runs in her four-over spell was easily voted “Player of the Match”.
For the plucky Windwards team, Nerissa Crafton and Jephenia Joseph were the only players to reach double figures and finished on 21 and 15 respectively.
Guyana’s Mandy Mangru swung the bronze-medal game with her clever bowling as she snapped three wickets when Barbados had threatened to do serious damage and post a triple-figure mark.
West Indies T20 star opener Hayley Matthews were in her elements and dominating the proceedings as she featured in an enterprising 45-run (9.1 overs) first wicket partnership before her opposite number Mangru had her stumped by wicketkeeper Deborah Vanderstoop for 21 (2x4s off 33 balls).
The Guyana captain made further inroads and bowled Haneisha Hoyte for three and had Alisa Scantlebury LBW for two while Sheneta Grimmond bowled opener Aaliyeh Alleyne (9) and Shai Carrington for one. Barbados were reduced to 55 for 5 and were in all sorts of trouble as the closed their innings at 61 for 9 in 20 overs.
Mangru (4-1-9-3) was named “Player of Match” and was well supported by Grimmond (4-0-92), Plaffiana Millington (4-1-6-2) and Kaysia Shultz (4-1-16-1) as they claimed nine Barbadian wickets for an addition of 16 runs in 10.1 overs.
Guyana raced to a seven-wicket victory with 25 balls remaining. They reached 62 for 3 in 15.5 overs with solid contributions from Grimmond (14) and Shabika Gajnabi who was undefeated on 26 that included two fours off 27 balls.