CWI Rising Stars Men’s U19 Super50
– Barbados crowned Champions
An unbeaten half-century from all-rounder Jonathan Van Lange coupled with an all-round bowling performance powered Guyana to a five-wicket win over the Windward Islands yesterday in the final round of the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Rising Stars Men’s U-19 Super50 competition.
Despite winning all but one of their games, the Guyanese lads fell short of the title bid, with Barbados clinching the title instead after ending the tournament with an unblemished record. Guyana’s only defeat came against the Bajans in the previous round.
Playing at the Park Hill Playing Field in Conarie, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Windward Islands won the toss and elected to bat, only to be skittled out for 148 in 40.2 overs.
Despite their skipper, Stephen Pascal, soldiering on to make 58 (98 balls) at the top of the order, no other Windward batter stood up in terms of posting a substantial individual score.
Only Kirsten Murray, with 21, came close to making a big contribution, but he too faltered like the rest. In fact, Pascal was responsible for taking his side to 114 before he became the fourth wicket to fall. From there, the last six wickets would fall for the addition of just 34 more runs.
Once again, Guyana’s skipper Mavindra Dindyal had an excellent outing with the ball, capturing 3/15 from 8 overs while Riyad Latiff (2/17) and Thaddeus Lovell (2/42) played supporting roles. There was also a wicket each for Myhiem Khan, Golcharran Chulai, and Krsna Singh.
In response, the Guyanese chased down 148 with five wickets to spare in 38.5 overs, with Van Lange leading the way. He took charge of the run-chase with his even 50 not out after the top three batters had all gotten good starts to set the foundation for a successful chase.
Openers Rampertab Ramnauth (21) and Romeo Deonarine (23) set the tone with handy contributions at the top before Dindyal also got a start, scoring 22 at number three, but failed to kick on.
Van Lange, however, was calm and stroked four boundaries in addition to two maximums in his 62-ball knock to guide his side home. Guyana ended on 152/5 with Thaddeus Lovell smashing a four to seal the win after the scores were levelled.
The win ended the Guyana team’s regional campaign, with the U-17s now set to head into action in the CWI Rising Stars Men’s 2-Day competition. Their first match is slated for August 13 against Trinidad and Tobago.
Meanwhile, Barbados won the championship following a clinical six-wicket victory over the Leeward Islands at the Cumberland Facility.
Batting first, the Leeward Islands were skittled for 105 in 39.4 overs. Israel Morton recorded 20 runs, as Saurav Worrell led the bowling effort with 4-28. Zishan Motara supported with 2-17. In response, the Barbadians stormed to 110/4 in 25.1 overs, with Joshua Dorne and his namesake Morris scoring 40 and 30 runs, respectively.
Over at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex, Jamaica thrashed Trinidad & Tobago by 65 runs. Batting first, the Jamaicans posted 181/9 in their allotment. Odel Samuels, Kev’Aundre Virgo, and Jordan Johnson scored 36, 26, and 25 runs, respectively.
Andrew Rambarran snared 3-22, while Aneal Rooplall tallied 2-39. In reply, Trinidad and Tobago was dismissed for 116 in 39.3 overs. Justin Jagessar top scored with 34, as Matthew Morgan, Samuels, and Tamarie Redwood recorded bowling figures of 3-3, 3-29, and 2-38, respectively.
