Central zone win Scotiabank Under-15 cricket crown

CENTRAL zone clinched the Scotiabank NextGen Under-15 cricket title with a crushing 155-run victory over East in the final at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva on Wednesday.

South East were initially scheduled to play Central in the final, but the former broke the tournament’s rules concerning the use of fast bowlers. A team must inform the umpires who are the fast bowlers on your team and only those players are allowed to bowl pace. South East did not follow that rule earlier in the tournament according to a TT Cricket Board official.

Central scored 254 for four in 50 overs with Dimitri Ramjattan and Darius Batoosingh showing form. Ramjattan struck 86 not out off 103 balls with seven fours and Batoosingh hit ten fours in his innings of 74 off 116 deliveries.

Wicket-keeper batsman Christiano Ramnanan also made life difficult for East with 36 off 44 balls.

Qadeer Juman was the best bowler for East grabbing 2/50 in eight overs.

In reply, East never came close to the target as they were all out for 99 in 35.5 overs. Rashad Shah proved to be unplayable snatching 3/9 in six overs. Ramjattan showed his ability with the ball also bagging 2/9 in four overs and Kyle Ramesar picked up 2/24 in six overs.

Jaydon Mootoor, batting at number eight, made 19 off 34 balls for East.

Central coach Pradeep Vishnu was proud of his team. “We have a really balanced team with both batting and bowling and two good wicket-keepers too.”

National Under-15 selectors attended the match as the TT Under-15 team will be selected later this month for the Cricket West Indies Rising Stars Regional tournament in Antigua starting April 1.

“I am hoping at least six of them could get call (for the TT team),” Vishnu said.

The Central players will have one more chance to impress the selectors at the Under-15 North-South Classic on March 8.

Ramjattan and Batoosingh put on 108 for the second wicket which placed Central in a dominant position.

Vishnu said, “They batted well. I told them I don’t want any cross batting and try to hit the ball on the ground too. That was basically my pointers.” The Central team was captained by Saleem Khan. Micah Joseph was the assistant coach and Fareed Khan is the chairman of the inter-zone committee for Central zone.