Kaiden Pollard hits 76; but South East beat North in TTCB U-15 final

SOUTH East held off a strong allround performance from Fatima College student Kaiden Pollard as they got a gripping 12-run win against North in the final of TT Cricket Board's Under-15 Interzone competition at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva on February 26.

South East won the toss and batted first, getting to a respectable 213 for nine from their 50 overs. A few players got starts for the southerners, with Curtis Nanan top-scoring with 43, and opening batsman Jordan Julien (29 off 33 balls), Ansar Mohammed (29 off 35) and lower-order batsman Narod Ramkissoon (28 off 37) all contributing handily.

Pollard was the pick of the bowlers for North with figures of three for 38 from ten overs, with Ayden Antoine grabbing two for 14.

North had a wobbly start to their innings as they lost opening batsman Levi Burke (five) to Ramkissoon in only the second over.

Captain Pollard strode to the middle at number three, and with an enterprising knock of 76 from 58, he tried his best to keep North in the contest. Pollard struck nine fours and four sixes in his innings.

Even as wickets fell at the other end, the Fatima youngster was going guns. In the 28th over, though, Man of the Match Rylee Gangoo (three for 23) had Pollard caught and bowled as North slipped to 140 for five. North then lost wickets in consecutive overs and were drifting to further trouble at 146 for seven when Gangoo bowled Antoine for four.

Zion Phillip (three for 29) then struck twice as North slipped to 176 for nine by the end of the 42nd over.

North needed 38 runs off the last 48 balls to clinch victory, but they were put out of their misery when last man Shaheen Khan (12) was dismissed by a returning Nanan (one for 31) as they were bowled out for 201. Wicket-keeper Dylan Lee Chow was left stranded on 22.

Pollard, the son of former West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard, was named Player of the Tournament.

Summarised Scores:

SOUTH EAST U-15: 213/9 (Curtis Nanan 43, Jordan Julien 29, Ansar Mohammed 29; Kaiden Pollard 3/38, Ayden Antoine 2/14) vs NORTH U-15: 201 from 48.3 overs (K Pollard 76, Elijah Ashton 23, Dylan Lee Chow 22 not out; Rylee Gangoo 3/23, Zion Phillip 3/29). SOUTH EAST won by 12 runs.