Clarke Road, QPCC get their 2nd wins in T20 Festival

CLARKE Road United and Queen's Park Cricket Club got their second wins in the ongoing TT Cricket Board (TTCB) Twenty/20 Festival in contrasting fashion against Preysal Sports Club and defending champions Central Sports respectively.

In group B action at the Queen's Park Oval in St Clair on Monday, Clarke Road got a four-wicket victory against Preysal after chasing a modest 143-run target.

Batting first, Preysal got to 142 for eight, with both Justin Jagessar and Nathaniel McDavid scoring 41 to lead their team's charge.

In response, Clarke Road got a flying start in the power play thanks to a 55-run opening partnership between captain Vikash Mohan (32) and Shatrughan Rambaran (26). However, they slipped from 70 for one to 125 for six as teenage spinner Aneal Rooplal (three for 22) threatened to turn the game in Preysal's favour.

Former West Indies under-19 player Joshua James (ten not out) held his own at the death, though, and he hit a towering six off the final ball of the penultimate over as Clarke Road eventually got over the line with five balls to spare to notch their second straight win. James, who took figures of three for 38, copped the Man-of-the-Match award.

In the late match on Sunday, QPCC got the better of Central Sports by 14 runs in a tense battle between the group A juggernauts. QPCC made a respectable total of 154 for nine, before putting in a quite splendid bowling performance to reduce the opposition to 140 for eight.

West Indies leg-spinner Yannic Cariah (two for 14) was unplayable during his spell. He critically stalled Central Sports during the middle overs and also got the wickets of the dangerous pair of Roshon Primus (three) and captain Lendl Simmons (20) as the Parkites got a second consecutive win.

Summarised Scores:

QPCC – 154/9 (Jyd Goolie 23; Rayad Emrit 3/25, Akeem Jordan 2/23) vs Central Sports – 140/8 (Mikkel Govia 32; Yannic Cariah 2/14, Anderson Phillip 2/18). QPCC won by 14 runs.

Preysal – 142/8 (Justin Jagessar 41, Nathaniel McDavid 41; Joshua James 3/38, Clevon Kalawan 2/28) vs Clarke Road United – 144/6 from 19.1 (Vikash Mohan 32; Aneal Rooplal 3/22). Clarke Road won by four wickets.