THE Rose Hall Town Poonai Pharmacy under 11 cricket team under the inspirational leadership of Darvish Narain created history in Berbice cricket when they won the first ever U-11 cricket tournament sponsored by Ricky Moore and Sons enterprise.

Playing at the Chesney Cricket Ground, Rose Hall Town Poonai Pharmacy was spearheaded by a brilliant all-round performance from Akeem Fraser.

With Albion the final favourites after winning both of their meetings in the past, the RHT Poonai Pharmacy side were hungry to go that extra mile.

Rose Hall Town won the toss in extremely hot conditions and elected to bat first.

They lost opener Julian Hicks (bowled) by Shahid Gajnabi for one in the first over before the other opener Dilchan La Cruz and skipper Darvish Narain added 20 for the second wicket.
La Cruz was then run out for 10.

The highly talented Akeem Fraser batted with maturity beyond his age and ended unbeaten on 35 with four boundaries, the eventual champions ending on 130 for 6 off their allotted 20 overs.
Skipper Narain supported with 16 while extras contributed a healthy 56 runs.

Wides bowled in the first 15 overs resulted in two runs for the batting side, while the ball is not bowled back (as per tournament rules).

The best bowler for Albion was their captain Gajnabi who took three for 18 from his four pace-bowling overs.

Needing to score 131 off their allotted 20 overs, Albion were given a solid start of 31 by openers Nicholas Madramootoo and Daniel Johnson before Madramootoo was caught off the bowling of left- arm spinner Khemraj Bharrat for 3.

Johnson was also dismissed for 11 to leave Albion at 38 for two in the sixth over.

The Rose Hall Town Poonai Pharmacy confidence was lifted when the dangerous Shahid Gajnabi, younger brother of West Indies player Sahabeka Gajnabi, was caught off the bowling of his opposite number Dharvish Narain for 12.

Albion slumped to 61 to 6 in the 11th over before Royston Crandon jnr and Ganesh Shivdyal then added 30 crucial runs for the seventh wicket to bring Albion back into contention.
Ganesh was run out for 10 at 91 for seven with Albion eventually bowled out for 120 of 18.4 overs.

Akeem Fraser took the final wicket to spark celebration by the Rose Hall Town team and their supporters.

Bowling for the champions, Khemraj Bharrat bagged 3 for 15, Darvish Narain 2 for 17, Akeem Fraser 2 for 6 and Joshua Dhanraj 2 for 11.

Fraser was named man of the final for his crucial innings of 35 not out and his two wickets

Chairman of the BCB cricket competition committee Leslie Solomon hailed the success of the tournament which unearthed several exciting talents for the future.

Solomon also expressed thanks to Ricky Moore for his sponsorship of the U-11 tournament.

He stated that the BCB is also looking to host an U-9 tournament in 2024 as part of its overall developmental programme.