Cooper leads T&T to 3-wkt win against Guyana

Aug 17, 2009 Sports

By Sean Devers and Michael Benjamin

Another large and raucous crowd turned up yesterday to watch the Regional Women’s 50 overs cricket competition but most of the fans left the Police ground disappointed after host Guyana went down to Trinidad and Tobago by 3 wickets in scorching heat.

Britney Cooper

The Guyanese failed to build on a 75-run first wicket partnership between June Ogle-Thomas (35) and Devanie Sewnarine (30) and could only reach 160-7 when their 50 overs expired on a slow track.

Medium pacer Stacy Ann King (2-33) and the off-spin pair of twins Anisa Mohammed (2-20) and Alisa Mohammed (1-29) bowled economical spells for T&T who reached 161-7 off 47.1 overs with Player-of-the-Match Britney Cooper hitting an important unbeaten 43.

Pacer Tremaine Smartt, who plays at the male first division level in Berbice, took 2-28 in an impressive unchanged 10-over spell bowling into the wind while Skipper Zaheeda Samdally took 2-28 from 7.1 overs.

Ultra defensive batting by the Guyanese girls, questionable use of the bowlers and some loose cricket by the fielders combined to conspire Guyana’s defeat in their opening game of the competition after Amanda Samaroo (29) and Sharda Saroop (15) had given the lasses from Carnival Country a steady if not explosive 61-run opening start from 20.1 overs.

Ogle-Thomas, who was out of cricket for 2 years due to the birth of her daughter after last playing for her country in 2005, looked organized but took 86 balls for her 35 with 2 fours while Sewnarine hit 33 with 4 fours from 55 balls and like Thomas, looked less comfortable once spin was introduced.

Anisa Mohammed, a West Indies Female off-spinner and elder of the twins by 10 minutes, made the breakthrough when she removed Sewnarine at 75-1 in the 18th over and then picked up the prize scalp of 16-year-old Shamaine Campbell (Guyana’s most talented female cricketer) for 6 at 90-2.

Alisa complemented her sister with her crafty off-spin and soon bowled Thomas as Guyana slipped to 96-3. Smartt (7), Prudence Williams (0) and Samdally (1) all fell in quick succession to leave Guyana on 153-7.

Katana Mentore who struggled to get the ball away in her unbeaten 8 from 31 balls and Sabrina Munroe (2*) were never able to accelerate the scoring although Darlene Gale struck a 6 in her 30 from 67 balls before she was dismissed by Kirbyina Alexander at 150-6.

Saroop and Samaroo were kept on a tight leash by the Guyana new ball pair of left-arm pacer Erva Giddings, who was a former member of the West Indies female squad, and Samdally.

Devanie Sewnarine (left) and June Ogle-Thomas

Saroop was run out for 15 from 54 balls while 5 runs later, Smartt bowled Samaroo whose 29 took 72 balls to leave the score on 66-2.

King (13) also had her stumps disturbed by Smartt at 88-3 and when Munroe bowled Gaitri Seetahal (6) at 107-4 and Campbell trapped West Indies Female Skipper Merisa Aguileira (6) leg before at 122-5 in the 38th over, the game was still wide open.

Samdally, who strangely used off-spinner Sewnarine for just 3 overs and did not fully utilize Williams and Munroe although they were hard to score from, got rid of Alexander (10) at 145-6 and had Samdally not put down 2 catches and Mentore floored a ‘sitter’ off Samdally at 155-7, the result might have been different.

A few wasted run out chances and fumbles in the field as the pressure increased helped the T&T cause as they reached victory after Alisa Mohammed (3) was bowled by Samdally.

Cooper who hit just one 4 in her 64-balls innings picked the bad balls to hit and defended the goods and finished 7 short of what would have been a well deserved fifty for T&T who play Grenada at Bourda tomorrow in their next game, while Guyana oppose St Vincent at Police.

Meanwhile, at the Bourda sward, St Vincent made light work of Grenada, defeating them by 123 runs.

The winning team won the toss and decided to take first strike amassing 176-8 at the end of their allotted 50 overs. Clea Hoyte top scored with a belligerent 48. She was later adjudged player of the match.

Hoyte’s batting heroics was emulated by Samantha Lynch (34), Corvel Jack and Nicole Samuel (21 apiece). Marlyn Nelson was the pick of the Grenadian bowlers with 3 for 19 off 10 overs.

Despite unflattering figures, Afy Fletcher was the next best bowler. She failed to take a wicket in her 10 overs with one maiden while conceding 31 runs.

Batting second, the Grenadians were immediately placed on the back foot, losing their first wicket with just 5 runs on the board.

The dismal batting performance continued with the next 5 wickets falling at 15, 23, 28, 30 and 30. The remaining 4 wickets fell for a paltry 23 runs as none of the batters managed to reach double figures.

St Vincent’s principal wicket takers were Captain, Shereeann John who finished with 3-13 from 6 overs, Cordel Jack also registered impressive bowling figures of 7 overs, 3 maidens, 3 for 15.

Grenada was eventually dismissed for a paltry 53 runs in 25.2 overs. Afy Fletcher and Anisha Thomas both scored 9 runs apiece to top the batting average for the losing team. Play continues this morning with Barbados tackling Dominica at the Wales Community Centre Ground and Jamaica opposing St Lucia at the DCC Ground, Queenstown.