Ramdin’s century lifts Preysal into T20 semis

Preysal batsman Denesh Ramdin scored a century on Saturday to guide his team into the Championship T20 semi-finals.
Preysal batsman Denesh Ramdin scored a century on Saturday to guide his team into the Championship T20 semi-finals.

DENESH RAMDIN smashed Preysal Sports into the semifinals of the Championship Division T20 semifinals with an unbeaten even hundred on Saturday against Moosai Sports at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva.

Also into the last four to be contested on Friday at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba are MYO, who defeated Rousillac by 44 runs in the second match of a double-header.

“Man-of-the-Match” Ramdin brought his star power to the second-tiered competition, crashing 11 boundaries and two maximums in just 61 balls, and shared in a fourth-wicket 79-run partnership with Rachad Forde who made 38 not out.

Moosai, who had earlier won the toss and decided to field, were made to rue their decision, as Ramdin led from the front, using his vast experience and a rich run of form having just returned from an historic three-match tour of Pakistan with the West Indies team.

Picked to play in an upcoming charity match in England with the regional side, the former West Indies Test captain and wicket-keeper also shared in important partnerships, posting 39 with Videsh Sooklal and 50 with Saiba Batoosingh on the way to his match-winning innings.

Best bowling performance for Moosai came from Kyle Borneo who grabbed two wickets for 25 runs from his four overs.

In reply, Moosai were dismantled by Ryan Austin whose four wickets for 14 runs were mainly responsible for their demise, humbling the Easterners for just 81 all out in 18.1 overs. Austin got good support from Videsh Sooklal and Antonio Aziz who both captured two wickets apiece.

In the other Championship Division quarter-final, Rousillac also were made to regret inserting their opponents as MYO made 149 for eight in their allotted 20 overs.

Top-scorer was Emmanuel Lett who made a patient 43 with two boundaries, while David Renne contributed 38 with one boundary and two maximums. The pair also shared a fifth wicket partnership of 52 valuable runs to ensure their team got a defendable total.

But MYO were pegged back by some steady bowling from Shaun Seebaran who snapped up four wickets for 23 runs, and Kamesh Yadram (two for 28). The pair also featured in a partnership of 31 when Rousillac batted but it was not enough as their side was restricted to 105 for eight in their 20 overs.

“Man-of-the-Match” Gabriel Blackwell was the star for MYO, taking a sensational haul of six wickets for 13 runs in his four overs, despite a Rousillac second-wicket fightback by Renne Goodard (28) and Satyam Tam (24) for the second wicket.

Yesterday, the two other Championship quarterfinals were staged with Calcutta against Fulham; while Defence Force clashed with Barrackpore at the National Cricket Centre in the second fixture of the double-header.

Today, the top-tiered Premiership clubs will begin their quest for silverware in the knock-out phase of the competition with Queen’s Park I playing Caldrac in the first quarterfinal from 2.30 pm at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba.

This will be followed by a clash involving Alescon Comets and Merryboys, from 6.30 pm.

On Tuesday, the other round of Premiership quarter-final matches will be staged, with Central Sports coming up against Raw Fitness Victoria from 2.30 pm; and PowerGen playing Queen’s Park II from 6.30 pm.

The T20 Festival will continue on Thursday with the semifinals of the Premiership competition; while the Championship “semis” will be contested on Friday. The finals of both competitions are slated for Saturday.

Comments

"Ramdin’s century lifts Preysal into T20 semis"

More in this section