Central beat North to claim U17 title

A TOP knock by Kyle Kissoondath along with an excellent all round bowling performance took Central Zone to the TT Cricket Board (TTCB) Under-17 Interzone 50-over title after beating North by eight wickets, at the National Cricket Centre in Couva, yesterday.

The Under-17 title by Central came just one day after Central won the Flow Secondary Schools Cricket League T20 title, at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba. Last month, Central also won the TTCB Under-15 Interzone crown.

In the Under-17 final, North got off to the worst possible start, reduced to seven for three in the fifth over after Jeremiah Cruickshank, Gerard Chin and Jonty Ramdeen were all dismissed. A 36-run fourth wicket partnership between Nicholas Elliot and Chadeon Raymond brought North back into the contest, but with the score on 43 Elliot fell for 22. Raymond battled at the crease, but no other batsman stuck around as North failed to put together partnerships. Raymond was the last batsman out for 62 off 93 deliveries with five fours. Ranjiv Droojansingh was the chief destroyer for Central taking 3/27 in 8.1 overs, Shiva Sankar grabbed 2/22 in five overs and Ronnilster Perreira snatched 2/21 in ten overs.

Central got a perfect start from openers Aaron Bankay and man of the match Kissoondath as the pair put on 50 for the first wicket. Bankay fell for 19, but another solid partnership guided Central to a dominant position. Kissoondath was joined by Aneil Pitiram and the duo took Central to 80 when the latter was dismissed for eight. That was the last time North got to celebrate for the match as Rajeev Ramnath joined Kissoondath to lead Central to 134/2 in 21.3 overs. Kissoondath ended on 63 not out off 65 balls with 11 fours and Ramnath struck 25 not out off 35 balls with two fours.

Aidan Samaroo and Jeremiah Cruickshank were the only wicket takers for North taking 1/30 in five overs and 1/37 in six overs respectively.