QPCC I begin T20 title defence against Clarke Road

Freshly crowned 50 Over premiership I champions Clarke Road United begin their quest for a potential second domestic title this season when they lock horns with holders Queen’s Park Cricket Club I (QPCC I) in the opening T20 Festival fixture at Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba on Friday, from 3pm.

The first match is a repeat of the 50 Over final, contested two weeks ago, in which Clarke Road emerged victors by a hefty 119 runs.

However, QPCC are the reigning T20 champs and will be no pushover despite the Penal-based team holding a slight mental advantage.

Clarke Road coach Dinesh Mahabir has named an unchanged squad (from the 50 Over final) for the opening contest and believes his team has what it takes to pull off a win against the Parkites in this format.

“It’s a new format but our team remains the same. We think we have a strong white ball team, we have power, talent and leadership and team unit to go into this competition and put on a good show.

“It’s just three games in the group stage. It’s been two weeks since we last met and we’ve been preparing. We had a practice match and important sessions with the guys. The team is back together and ready to go,” he said.

Although the squad remains unchanged, Mahabir said the batsmen would be shuffled to suit the shorter version of the game. He confirmed that QPCC I have an array of talent and would not be counted out.

“We have to rethink our plans to suit T20 as bowling has been our strength. We just have to fine-tune and use our combinations. We expect teams will come hard and QPCC is a team filled with experience and probably will be boosted by additional players,” he added.

Attempts to contact Vinnod Maharaj, QPCC I coach, for a comment were futile.

In the second match at Tarouba on Friday, Preysal Sports Club take on QPCC II from 7:30pm. These four clubs make up Group A while Comets Sports Club, Central Sports, PowerGen and Profilbau Victoria comprise Group B.

The T20 Festival entails three rounds of round-robin play with the top two teams moving on to the May 26 semi-finals. Additionally, the Premiership II semi-finals bowl off on May 25.

The finals of both the Premiership I and II T20 tournaments will be held at the same venue on May 27.