Latest update October 18th, 2024 12:15 AM
Aug 11, 2015 Sports
By Sean Devers
National under-15 right-hander Junior St Clair fashioned a masterful unbeaten 104 after taking 2-20 with his off-spin to help Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club Bakewell Under-17s beat the touring Digicel Harvard Cricket Academy U-17 side of Trinidad & Tobago by three wickets at the Area ‘H’ ground in Rose Hall Town on Sunday.
The 14-year-old St Clair hit 12 fours and along with fellow Guyana U-15 batsman Kelvin Anderson (31) added 71 for the second wicket to take the hosts to 168-5 in 36.5 overs.
Andel Nicholas (2-36) bowled with some aggression for Harvard Academy who, led by 53 from Keon Mason, had earlier posted their highest score on their Guyana tour, making 167-7 from 40 overs on nice track which offered bounce and turn and a quick outfield as St Clair finished with 2-20 in steaming hot conditions in Berbice.
Opting to bat under blue skies and cool breeze in an agriculture setting, the ‘Trinis’ were off to a slow start against the spin based attack before Akeel Sookhoo, one of the better batsmen in the side, was bowled by Anderson for 17 at 30-1 in 11 overs.
The burly Mason, hit the ball almost a hard as his father Keno, the former pugnacious T&T Keeper but struggled with his placement and could not pierce the field.
Mason and Kiran Sanike (8) took nine overs to add 35 runs as the bowlers kept the shackles on the pair before Sanike misread a googlie from national U17 leg-spinner Brandon Prashad and was trapped LBW.
Mason, who soaked up too many dot balls in excellent batting conditions, shared in another useful 49-run third wicket partnership with 13-year-old left-hander Adam Reyce, who evoked memories of former T&T and West Indies batsman Larry Gomes with his timing and placement before Reyce, who picked the gaps beautifully to reach the boundary on three occasions in his 24, was run out at 114-3.
Mason pounced on pint size nine-year old off-spinner Matthew Potteya like a cat upon a mouse and pulled him viciously for four to post his fifty in the 35th over, but making a consorted effort to up the tempo, was taken in the deep off St Clair at 122-4.
St Clair removed the in-form Nicholas for a duck and two more quick wickets fell but Jadon Bryce, who hit two four and a six in a cameo 24 not out ensured that 53 were scored in the last five overs.
When the home team began their run chase Surendra Budhoo (10) was bowled by Reyse at 39-1 but St Clair and Anderson played several audacious shots before Anderson and Prashad (0) were sent back in the space of a run to leave Rose Hall Town Bakewell 111-3 and revive the hopes of the tourists who had another terrible day in the field.
But the set St Clair used the pace of off-spinner Mason, who bowled too fast and flat, to clip the ball to fine-leg for a couple of boundaries and dominated a 52-run stand with Brandon Corlette.
When Corlette (9) was run out, only four runs were required for victory as Mason and left-arm spinner Sanjay Browne, the leading bowlers for the ‘Trinis’ with eight wickets each, went wicketless.
After the game, Mason (best batsman) and Nicholas (best bowler) were presented with trophies by the host club for their performances, while the visiting side was taken on a tour of their facilities which included a well furnished guests quarters that could accommodate a team and officials.
Rose Hall Town Sports Club’s CEO Hilbert Foster invited the Academy team for free accommodation the next time they were in Berbice and introduced them to the Minister of Human Services & Social Security Volda Lawrence, who was on an official visit to the entity which has won several awards for its support of youth development across Berbice over the years. He also told the youngsters that defeat can make you better if you learn from your mistakes and worked hard.
“When our team was formed in 1990 we lost 17 consecutive games until a 48-year-old spinner’s eight-wicket haul give our first win in 1991 and here we are today,” Foster, the backbone of the club over the years, said.
Harvard’s Coach Omesh Persaud, the 1981 T&T U-19 Off-spinner, praised Foster and his club for the ‘fantastic’ work being done for the youths in the community.
The Academy plays its final game today against Malteenoes at the Malteenoes ground from 11:00hrs.
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