Bowlers spur Transport to thrilling win over DCC in Under-13 final

By Faizool Deo
QUALITY bowling propelled a short-handed Transport Sports Club cricket team to a thrilling one-run victory over host team, Demerara Cricket Club (DCC), in the final of the V-Net Communications/Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) Little Champs U-13 competition on Friday night.

What seemed a simple victory for DCC turned out to be a whirlwind of entertainment for the small crowd who watched the youngsters battle under lights.
The competition, which was sponsored by Cerulean Inc., Guyana Trading Company and Eco Atlantic International Investment Inc, followed a different format, which allowed for maximum participation.

Each team started the allotted 25 overs with 200 runs; batsmen batted in set pairs for mandatory five-over periods and both teams were punished for infractions.
Wides and no-balls were credited with two runs for the batting side, while the fall of a wicket meant that 10 runs were discounted from the batting total. In the end, DCC scored a significant number of runs more than Transport, but they lost more wickets – hence the result.

The home team won the toss and inserted their opponents to bat. Although Transport were pegged back by an early dismissal (batsmen were given multiple opportunities at the crease), they still managed to reach 215-1 after the first five overs with Ryan Latif on six and Sachin Persaud on five.
Dave Mohabir (four runs) and 10-year-old Reyaz Latif (three runs) battled through the next five overs to push the score to 235-1.

At the beginning of the 11th over, eleven-year-old Riyad Latif, the middle brother of the Latif trio, and Stephon Sankar began their time at the crease, and although they played a few shots, Transport lost another wicket off the first over of Romeo Deonarain.
The spinner frustrated Sankar for five balls before bowling him with the sixth to push the score to 235-2 in the 13th over.

With eventual man-of-the-match Riyad (12 runs) playing a few shots, including a nice cover drive and a few deliberate shots fine of the wicket, the visitors had managed to reach 244-2 off 15 overs.
Skipper Alvin Mohabir and Tyriq Walters were the next batsmen in and they added 13 runs before the latter was bowled by fast bowler Mahiem Khan.

During the five-over stint, the home team had a chance to wrest more control, but Mohabir (who scored 14 elegant runs) was put down at backward point.
Due to a lack of players, Transport were forced to give up their last five overs, which left their score on 257-3. Khan led DCC’s attack with 2-13.
Needing to score just 258 for victory (each team starts with a score of 200) with nine men manning the field, DCC looked like favourites, but they were setback from ball one after Keshaun Silas was caught at mid-on attempting a big shot. By ball two of the innings, DCC were reduced to 190 with a new target of 268 runs for victory.

The visitors were unlucky in the second over as Silas was dropped from the last ball of the second over off the bowling of Walters, while the very next ball (the start of the third over) Deonarain was bowled off a no-ball. The pair laboured and pushed the score to 216-1 by the end of the fifth over with Deonarain scoring 10 and Silas 1.

From the sixth over to the eighth over the Latif brothers took control with their leg-spin bowling. Reyaz grabbed his second wicket, while his brother took two wickets from two balls. This pushed the home team to 198-4 in the eighth over.
DCC had rebuilt their innings by the 13th over and a victory again looked possible at 232-4, but two miscalculations (a badly placed shot and a suicidal run-out) over the next three overs pegged them back at 217-6.

Another dismissal carried DCC further back to 207-6. By the 20th over, DCC looked defeated at 216-9, but Wavell Allen and Khan stablised the innings and pushed the score to 248-9 by the 24th over.
Persaud was given the responsibility to bowl the last over. He flighted his deliveries and had to hold his nerve – and so he did.

The game went down to five runs from three balls, to four runs from two balls and then three from a single ball as he kept his line and length and stifled the scoring. The last shot was another push which left the home team one run short of the visitors’ score.
Allen finished with 13 runs and Khan with eight. Riyad, Reyaz and Dave Mohabir led the winners’ attack with two wickets each.