Cooper, Hope, Goolie hit centuries

OUT-of-favour TT Red Force trio Cephas Cooper, Kyle Hope and Jyd Goolie reminded the selectors of their ability when they all struck hundreds for their respective teams on day one of round two in the TT Cricket Board National League Premiership I competition, on Saturday.

At PowerGen Ground in Penal, Cooper ended on 119 not out to put PowerGen in a strong position against Alescon Comets. Cooper’s knock took PowerGen to 235/4 at the close, a lead of 88 runs on first innings. Jeron Maniram made 66 and Steven Katwaroo is unbeaten on 35.

Earlier in the day, experienced left-arm spinners Kavesh Kantasingh and Dave ‘Tadpole’ Mohammed grabbed 6/72 and 3/25 respectively to dismiss Comets for 147.

Next door, at the Wilson Road Recreation Ground in Penal, Hope cracked 113 to propel First Citizens Clarke Road to 331/4 at stumps against Queen’s Park II. Keddy Lesporis helped boost Clarke Road’s total with 86 and Dejourn Charles contributed 67.

Former West Indies Under-19 cricketer Goolie hit 102 to put his new club Queen’s Park I in a commanding position against Raw Fitness Victoria United at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair. Goolie, who was part of the victorious WI team at the Under-19 50-over World Cup in 2016, helped the Parkites to 351/4 declared. Javon Searles (73) and Sunil Narine (57) also showed form. In reply, Victoria closed on 105/4 still trailing Queen’s Park I by 246 runs. Searles had a strong performance on the day as he snatched 3/36. In the other match, Preysal Sports have the edge against Central Sports at Inshan Ali Park in Preysal. Preysal bowled out Central for 128, before closing on 53/2.

All matches on the second and final day on Sunday will resume at 10 am.

SUMMARISED SCORES

Alescon Comets 147 (J Persad 56; Kavesh Kantasingh 6/72, Dave Mohammed 3/25) vs PowerGen 235/4 (Cephas Cooper 119 not out, Jeron Maniram 66, Steven Katwaroo 35 not out; Ronaldo Forrester 2/10, Steven Sankar 2/86).

Clarke Road 331/4 (Kyle Hope 113, Keddy Lesporis 86, Dejourn Charles 67) vs Queen’s Park II.

Queen’s Park I 351/4 (Jyd Goolie 102, Javon Searles 73, Sunil Narine 57; Marcelle Jones 4/85) vs Raw Fitness Victoria United 105/4 (Emmanuel Lett 32 not out; J Searles 3/36).

Central 128 (Imran Khan 37, Trevon Griffith 21; Shazan Babwah 3/41, Sanjiv Gooljar 2/29, Mark Deyal 2/8) vs Preysal 53/2 (M Deyal 22 not out).