EAST Zone easily defeated North by eight wickets on Sunday to capture the Shell sponsored Under-19 Inter Zone cricket title in the final at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva.
Teron Jadoo emerged the star for East Zone to earn the “Man-of-the-Match” honours with an all-round impressive performance. Batting first, North were dismissed for 136 in 43.3 overs, after winning the toss. In reply, East made light work of the run-chase, reaching their target in just 24.2 overs and finishing on 142 for the loss of two wickets.
When North batted, Jadoo grabbed three for 14 in his allotted 10 overs and he returned to lead his team to victory with an undefeated 55 with four boundaries and one maximum.
Earlier, North got a good start with a first-wicket partnership of 42, with Kevon Sorzano top-scoring with 30 with four boundaries. But excellent bowling by North precipitated two mini-collapses in which six wickets fell for just two runs.
And apart from Sorzano, only Sachin Dookie (28) with three boundaries, Leon Bassano (16) and Michael Ambard (14) made any useful contributions.
The top bowling performance for East came from Kareem Muradali who took five wickets for 23 runs in his five overs, while Nathaniel McDavid returned with two for 21 in 7.3 overs.
The East victory was engineered by a match-winning third-wicket partnership of 59 between Jadoo and Rivaldo Ramlogan who ended on 36 not out with five fours and two sixes.
Also making his contribution was Leonardo Julien with 29, studded with four boundaries and one maximum, and who shared in a 50-run second wicket partnership with Jadoo to put East within striking distance of the winning target.
At Sunday’s final, Shell Trinidad and Tobago Limited External Affairs Advisor, Kelly Marie Patel, congratulated both teams for reaching the final and urged them to continue to do their best.
She told the youngsters that Shell has had a long and fruitful relationship with not only cricket in Trinidad and Tobago but other areas which have contributed to the development of its young people.
Also present was Lalman Kowlessar, second vice-president of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board, who traced Shell’s strong involvement with cricket and pointed to the oil company’s sponsorship of the regional tournament for many years which was named the Shell Shield.
Kowlessar, who is chairman of the Under-19 selectors, advised the cricketers to grab the opportunity presented to them and impress with outstanding performances which can earn them places on the national team for the upcoming Cricket West Indies Under-19 tournament in Barbados.
Cricket Operations Officer of the TTCB, Dudnath Ramkessoon, pointed out that Shell Trinidad and Tobago Limited has invested a great deal in sponsoring the inter zone cricket series at four levels.
He expressed his appreciation to Patel for their confidence in the TTCB which has over the years produced outstanding national, regional and international stars with their innovative cricket development programmes.