By Tiadi Blair
Despite the presence of former West Indies player Roger Harper and his brother Mark in their lineup a Celebrity Team went under to a Blind Cricketers President’s XI by 22 runs in a specially arranged match yesterday at the Providence National Stadium.
It would be fair to say that the Blind Cricketers President’s XI team literally ran the Celebrities out of the encounter with five batsmen falling via that route.
Batting first the President’s XI reached 179-9 off their allotted 20 overs.
In reply, the Celebrities ended on 157-6.
The President’s XI consisted of various blind cricketers who participated in the just-concluded fourth annual regional tournament while the Celebrities team consisted of national cricketers, sports journalists and members of the Guyana Blind Cricket Association.
The Celebrity team won the toss and chose to field.
They probably felt that the decision was vindicated when they dismissed both openers Oliver Kerr and Ricardo Manning for ducks.
However, Jenson Poyah top scored with 71 and with Rodney Ramrattan lending good support with 30, the President’s XI were able to reach a challenging 179.
Former West Indies fast bowler Colin Stuart sent down two overs for 14 runs while off-spinner Harper’s two overs cost 25 runs.
In reply, opener Yannick Grimmond carried his bat throughout the innings for 48 but the Celebrities’ effort was derailed by the five run outs from the six wickets that fell.
Apart from Harper who was bowled by Sheldon Phillips for six, Ulric Andrews, 48, Calvin Roberts, 13, Harrilall Kissoon, 03, Ravendra Madholall 07, and Leonard Rampersaud 08, all perished to the excellent ground fielding of the President’s XI. Phillips ended with 1-10 off his allotted two overs.
The match rounded up a week of blind cricket played by Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and eventual winners Jamaica. The Jamaican team was last year’s joint champions with Trinidad and Tobago.
Barbados took the second place spot on the podium while Trinidad and Tobago settled for third place in the tournament.
