South whip North by 148 runs in Gerry Gomez Classic

South defeated North by a convincing margin of 148 runs yesterday at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain in the annual Pizza Hut/Gerry Gomez Classic to capture their first crown in six years.

North, chasing 412 runs from a minimum 102 overs folded for 263 just after tea on the final day to hand Shazam Babwah’s men the coveted title. They began the day on 23 for one wicket and the overnight pair of Dwayne Bravo and Earnil Ryan batted positively to take the total to 131 before being separated. Bravo, the more adventurous of the two, delighted the sparse crowd to an array of wonderful strokes that lit up the Oval. He motored along to 59 when the impressive off-spinner Amit Jaggernauth got the breakthrough for the Southerners. Bravo’s 59 came in 147 minutes, off 102 balls and was decorated with eight fours. Jamaican Ricardo Powell joined Ryan who soon met his demise at the hands of all rounder Kenton Thompson for 57. The Queen’s Park player faced 93 balls for his 57 that occupied 152 minutes. He struck four fours and a five.

The talented Aneil Kanhai was next in and together with the robust Powell added 52 runs for the fourth wicket. At that stage a huge Powell contribution was looking imminent but he was soon cut down by the little Jaggernauth who had him caught for 31. Kanhai followed for 34 and although there was some resistance towards the end of the innings by Ryad Emrit (24) and Ricardo Paty, North still fell well below the target. Jaggernauth finished with five wickets for 80 from 25.3 probing overs and collected the bonus of $1,000 offered by the match’s sponsors Prestige Holdings. Tishan Maraj, who got two half centuries in the classic was given the nod for “Man-of-the-Match” honours by former Test umpire Clyde Cumberbatch.

South skipper Shazam Babwah speaking after the victory said: “We were confident going into play this morning and we knew that we had a great chance of winning. It was truly a great team effort as the boys totally out-played North in all departments of the game.” Babwah scored a half century in the first innings and hurried the victory by claiming two wickets with his off-spin at the cost of 21 runs. He was high in praise for Jaggernauth: “I thought that Amit really bowled well and took control of the match on the final day. Devindra Krishna has a shoulder injury and Amit really stepped forward to make this win a possibility.”