Barrackpore East retain Girls T20 title

BARRACKPORE East Secondary School defended the PowerGen Secondary Schools Intercol Girls T20 open title with a five-wicket win over Holy Name Convent at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba yesterday.

Holy Name posted a modest 83/9 in 20 overs, before Barrackpore got to 85/5 in 17.5 overs to keep the title.

Barrackpore coach Anil Lakhan said, “A hard fought victory, well played to the ladies. They showed what true champions are made off. It was a flawless performance when we bowled and that set up our win today.”

Lakhan commended Suriya Sookoo, who took 3/20 and top scored with 13 to guide Barrackpore East to the title. “Suriya came to the party with both bat and ball. During the season she struggled a bit, but she is a big tournament player and she always comes up trumps, so congrats to her.”

The Barrackpore coach also praised captain Shalini Samaroo. “Shalini is a great leader, not only by her leadership but by the way she carries herself on and off the field. She is really an exemplar to the young ladies and also a role model for all those young ladies.” Samaroo represented TT in a Girls Under-19 Regional tournament recently.

Holy Name got off to a slow start, crawling to 24/2 after eight overs. Jesse Ferdinand, who was also part of the TT Under-19 team, helped Holy Name increase its scoring rate.

Ferdinand and Saarah Olton put on 38 runs for the third wicket in a partnership dominated by Ferdinand. Barrackpore dropped a couple catches but limited their number of wides.

Barrackpore were in the driver’s seat when Ferdinand was run out for 19 to leave Holy Name struggling at 60/3 in the 16th over. Holy Name were desperate for quick runs but instead lost six more wickets as their innings stuttered to a close.

Sookoo was the top bowler for Barrackpore East, snatching 3/20 in four overs, but the southerners helped boost the Holy Name total by giving away 33 extras.

In reply, Barrackpore were 26/1 after four overs, which included 20 extras, as the Holy Name bowlers struggled to keep a consistent line and length.

Ferdinand gave away a number of wides, ending her four-over spell with zero wickets for 24 runs.

Sookoo played some attacking cricket, getting Barrackpore off to a strong start. However, her positive strokeplay led to her demise as she was caught by Ferdinand for 13 at deep square leg.

Despite the fall of Sookoo, Barrackpore East were cruising on 55/2 after ten overs with Samaroo on two and Kavita Deodath on three. Gabrielle Doopan did well to restrict the Barrackpore batters, ending with figures of 1/14 in four overs.

Barrackpore East lost a few more wickets, including Samaroo for 11, but Holy Name gave away 51 extras which made the target light work for Barrackpore. Olton was the top bowler for Holy Name with 2/16 in four overs.

SUMMARISED SCORES: Holy Name Convent 83/9 (20 overs) – Jesse Ferdinand 19, Saarah Olton 15; Suriya Sookoo 3/20 vs Barrackpore East 85/5 (17.5 overs) – S Sookoo 13, Shalini Samaroo 11, S Olton 2/16. Barrackpore East won by five wickets.