Shiva Boys stay perfect to take lead

Wicket-keeper Rahul Pitiram of Presentation College, Chaguanas dives for the ball in a PowerGen Secondary Schools Cricket League Premiership Division match against Fatima College at the latter’s school ground in Port of Spain, on Tuesday.  - ROGER JACOB
Wicket-keeper Rahul Pitiram of Presentation College, Chaguanas dives for the ball in a PowerGen Secondary Schools Cricket League Premiership Division match against Fatima College at the latter’s school ground in Port of Spain, on Tuesday. - ROGER JACOB

SHIVA Boys Hindu College leapfrogged St Benedict's College and are the new leaders in the PowerGen Secondary Schools Cricket League Premiership 50-over competition after round four matches were completed, on Tuesday.

Shiva Boys got past St Benedict's by four wickets, at the Daren Ganga Recreation Ground, in Barrackpore. St Benedict's posted 180 all out with Rodney Sieunarine scoring 54 and Antonio Gomez (34) and Crystian Thurton (30) making valuable contributions. Dillon Jagmohan and Isiah Gomez were the best bowlers for Shiva Boys with 4/40 and 2/16 respectively.

In reply, Nicholas Ali put Shiva Boys on their backs with 65 not out to guide his team to 181/6. Damion Joachim provided strong support with 22 not out and Thurton was the top bowler with 2/34. Shiva are now the only team with a perfect record.

At St Mary's College ground, in St Clair, defending champions Hillview College defeated the home team by 33 runs. Jabari Phillip and Shazad Mohammed were the stand out performers for Hillview, scoring 43 and taking 4/34 respectively.

Batting first, Phillip got Hillview off to a strong start before St Mary's fought back with a flurry of wickets to leave the defending champs four wickets down with less than 90 on the board.

The experienced pair of Rickash Boodram and Ronaldo Forrester then combined to put on a solid partnership as Hillview regained control of the contest. Left-arm fast bowler Andre Seetaram got the breakthrough when Forrester was bowled attempting a huge hit down the ground.

New batsman Anderson Mahase settled down quickly lashing a six over mid wicket. Seetaram could not stay out of the action as he got another crucial wicket when Boodram was caught behind for 26 as Hillview progressed to 143/6 after 33 overs. Hillview lost wickets regularly with Seetaram and fellow fast bowler Matthew Gittens leading the way as a number of batsmen gave their wicket away hitting in the air. Hillview would have been disappointed that they did not take advantage of all the deliveries after being dismissed for 169 in 41.2 overs. Gittens was the chief destroyer grabbing 4/10, Seetaram snatched 3/36 and Jayden O'Brien took 3/30.

Captain Leon Basanoo and Gerard Chin got the Saints off to a positive start with an opening partnership of 39. The pair played cautiously getting their team to 28 without loss after ten overs. Basanoo opened his hand with two fours in one over off fast bowler Travin Mohan. Chin tried to follow his captain, but he could only find mid-on fielder Phillip after chipping down the wicket to spinner Al Fayyal Ali. National youth player Basanoo showed his quality with shots all around the ground and found an able partner in Nick Ramlal with strong running between the wickets.

The partnership did not last long as Basanoo was well caught for 36 by Mahase at first slip to give spinner Andrew Rambaran the scalp. St Mary's again needed to rebuild the innings with the score 55/2 in the 17th over.

St Mary's progressed to 111/3 to leave the match hanging in the balance, but the home team then lost seven wickets for 25 runs and were all out for 136 in 46.3 overs. Spinner Shazad Mohammed and fast bowler Forrester were the pick of the bowlers taking 4/34 and 3/15 respectively. Ramlal was dismissed for 28 and Gittens battled to contribute 25, but it was not enough.

After the match Hillview coach Richard Kelly said, "We have been working hard despite losing quite a few key players...what I realise is as each game goes by they keep improving so I can only look forward to better things to come for the rest of the season."

SUMMARISED SCORES

St Benedict's College 180 (Rodney Sieunarine 54, Antonio Gomez 34, Crystian Thurton 30, Dillon Jagmohan 4/40, Isiah Gomez 2/16) vs Shiva Boys 181/6 (Nicholas Ali 65 not out, Damion Joachim 22 not out, C Thurton 2/34) Shiva Boys won by four wickets

Hillview College 169 (41.2 overs) (Jabari Phillip 43, Rickash Boodram 26, Anderson Mahase 21; Matthew Gittens 4/10, Jayden O'Brien 3/30, Andre Seetaram 3/36) vs St Mary's College 136 (46.3 overs) (Leon Basanoo 36, Nick Ramlal 28, Matthew Gittens 25, Shazad Mohammed 4/34, Ronaldo Forrester 3/15) Hillview won by 33 runs

Naparima College 202 (47.4 overs) (Kyle Roopchand 76, Ryan Bandoo 52, Danny Ramjitsingh 4/22, Sanjay Jawahir 3/22, Jalen Agard 2/27) vs Presentation College, San Fernando 155 (38.3 overs) (Shem Ascevero 33, Sanjay Jawahir 30, Rodney Beharry 28; Jevon George 5/34, Avinash Mahabirsingh 2/21) Naparima won by 47 runs

Presentation College, Chaguanas 154 (43.4 overs) (Amrit Dass 50 not out, Rajeev Ramnarine 23; Jesse Butts 5/20) vs Fatima College 157/7 (44th over) (Jeremiah Cruickshank 63, Aidan Samaroo 25; Brandon Deonarine 3/24 Sameer Ali 2/33) Fatima won by three wickets

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"Shiva Boys stay perfect to take lead"

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