South East, Central clash in 50 overs final

THE NATIONAL Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva will be the venue for the final of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) Inter Zone 50-over Tournament today between South East and Central.

This game will bowl off at 10 am and will feature the two unbeaten teams in this month-long competition.

In the semi-final round at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba last weekend, South East defeated East by two wickets under the Duckworth/Lewis system. In the other semi, Central embarrassed North by 167 runs.

There is uncertainty over the availability of West Indies players Jason Mohammed, Shannon Gabriel and Evin Lewis for the South East team.

Mohammed, the South East captain, and Gabriel have been involved in respective batting and bowling camps with the West Indies team in Antigua. Gabriel has been named in the Windies Test team to play Sri Lanka in a two-match series beginning on June 6. Lewis also recently represented Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

South East stand-in skipper Steven Katwaroo is relying on a team effort to get the better of Central today.

“Jason and Shannon were down to play the first game (against South) but when they left, (we) took it upon ourselves to try to do (our best), and also try to impress the Trinidad and Tobago selectors,” Katwaroo said.

“If you look into the team, we don’t really have big names. It’s just Akeil Cooper and myself that represent Trinidad (in the past). It gave us an inspiration to play hard.

“Everybody knows each other, rally around each other, helps each other,” he continued. “In every game, someone is stepping up. That’s why we’re unbeaten so far.”

Veteran leg-spinning all-rounder Imran Khan may have to take up the mantle as Central Zone captain, as regular leader Denesh Ramdin is expected to feature with the Windies one-day team against the ICC World XI, in a T20 charity game in Lord’s, London, England on Thursday.

According to Khan, “The expectations are very high. The team has been playing good cricket. (We’ve been) disciplined off and on the field. We’re confident going into the game.”

As far as the Central team is concerned, Khan said, “We’ve been playing well as a team. Everybody’s doing their part to help the team which is most important. I’m not going to single any one player because everybody’s been coming to the table when it’s time, in both batting and bowling.”

Both Katwaroo and Khan has mixed views on the format used by the TTCB for the national 50-over competition.

Katwaroo said, “With the clubs, you can see more talent, it’s more narrowed-down with the zones. Competition-wise, the best players are from the Zones, so the competitiveness will be different.”

Khan pointed out, “I think it’s a really good tournament, but a lot of young players didn’t get the opportunity to play. Besides that, I think it’s a good tournament, with the best players playing against each other. It’s a good step going forward.”