AN unbeaten century from opener Rocky Sarjoo gave the visiting Laluni All Stars a convincing 9-wicket victory over Everest Masters on Easter Sunday at the Everest Cricket Club (ECC) ground.

The match, which was organised by the ECC, as part of the club’s annual weekend of activities to observe Easter, was played in the true spirit of the game though it ended as a one-sided affair.

Opting to bat, the hosts amassed a competitive 203-8 from their 25 overs which was later overhauled by Laluni with 15 balls to spare.

Everest Masters got off to a flying start with Saheed Mohamed and Sahadeo Hardaiow racing to 43 without loss in four overs, to set the pace for the rest of the match. When Hardaiow was bowled for 11 (2×4) off Sunil Sarjoo’s first ball of the match, Mohamed was joined by Hemraj Garbarran and the runs continued to flow from the pink ball on the fast outfield.

However, when Mohamed seemed set for a half-century, disaster struck and hewas run-out for the top score of 48 (4×4, 3×6, 33 balls) at 87-2. He added 44 runs for the second wicket with Garbarran who followed shortly after for 22 (2×4) at 98-3.

Former national opener, Azeemul Haniff then rolled back the years with a polished 20 (2×4; 21 balls) as the middle and lower order kept up with the scoring rate until the allotted 25 overs. Ronald Jaisingh cashed in with 30 (1×4, 2×6), former national youth wicketkeeper Joseph Perry 24 (2×4, 1×6) and Basil Persaud 16 (1×4, 1×6) while debutants Safraz Sheriffudeen and Ishwar Persaud were not out at the end on one and three respectively.

The pick of the Laluni bowlers were Sunil Sarjoo with 3-28 who got support from Derick Tejnarine 2-45, Rocky Sarjoo 1-22 and Glen Campbelle 1-34.

Set a target of 204 from 150 balls, the young openers from the Amerindian village along the Linden Highway were asked to score at a rate of more than 8 runs per over and started the run chase with Rocky and Tejnarine.

The right-handed openers matched each other shot for shot in their brisk partnership of 175 runs before Tejnarine was bowled by medium pacer Basil Persaud (1-9) in the 20th over for 83 (54 balls, 5×4, 5×6).

By then the match was all but sealed but Rocky was still on the go and brought up his milestone with a lofted six before ending the contest in similar fashion. He ended unbeaten on 113 (74 balls, 9×4, 7×6) while number three Campbelle was on 8 not out when victory was achieved in the 23nd over.

Captain of Everest Masters, Rajesh Singh and his opposite number Julian Mohabir expressed their gratitude for the match to mark the occasion of Easter and both hinted at a rematch in Laluni in the near future. For his pugnacious innings, Rocky was named Man-of-the-Match.

Everest Masters are next set to host Bartica on Saturday, April 27 from 13:00hrs also at the Everest cricket club ground in the city.