South thrash North to win inaugural Under-15 Classic

LUKE ALI hit a boundary-studded half-century, and Cristian Rampersad grabbed six wickets as South crushed North by 93 runs to lift the first North-South Classic for Under-15 cricketers on Friday at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva.

The South captain struck eight boundaries in his innings of 60, after winning the toss and electing to bat as his team amassed 218 all out, five balls shy of the allotted 45 overs.

In reply, North was humbled for 126 in 39.2 overs, almost singlehandedly by Christian Rampersad whose haul of six wickets for 30 runs in nine overs earned him the Man-of-the-Match honours and the award for taking the most wickets.

Also sharing the spotlight was North spinner Samir Saroop who claimed a hat-trick which halted a late charge by Central who were coasting at 203 for five in the 43rd over but in the space of three balls were on the back foot at 203 for eight. Saroop ended with four scalps for 36 runs in 5.5 overs.

Contributing to the challenging South total were Fareez Ali (43), Riyaad Mohammed (29) and Alexander Chase (21).

North was given a solid start in their run chase as Aditya Ramdeen (17) and Samir Saroop (28) put on a 43-run opening partnership. But once they were parted, wickets fell at regular intervals and only captain Abdul Raheem Toppin offered any resistance with a top score of 31 as Rampersad sliced through the batting line-up to secure an historic win for the South boys.

The Price Club Supermarket-sponsored match featured the best local Under-15 cricketers who were bidding for places on the national team to play in the regional Cricket West Indies tournament.

TT will defend their title in the 2020 championship to be staged in Antigua/Barbuda.

Present at the prizegiving function after Friday’s clash were the directors of sponsors The Price Club, Shamshad and Sheliza Ali, along with other top officials of the Chaguanas supermarket.

The Prince Club will also be sponsoring the Under-17 Inter-Zone Tournament which bowls off on March 11.

HONOUR ROLL –

Most Runs: Luke Ali (South)

Most Wickets: Christian Rampersad (South)

Best Fieldsman: Joseph Mendoza (North)

Man-of-the-Match: Christian Rampersad