Barrackpore win cricket Intercol

A BRILLIANT allround performance by West Indies Under-19 cricketer Rishi Bachan led Barrackpore Secondary Comprehensive to victory over Princes Town Senior by four wickets to take the 2004 PowerGen Secondary Schools Intercol title.

Scores: PRINCES TOWN 162/9. BARRACKPORE 163/6.
After restricting Princes Town to 162 for nine wickets in their 30 overs,   Barrackpore found themselves tottering on 89 for five. But Bachan using the experience he gained overseas to score an unbeaten 20 forging two useful partnerships, first with Gary Nandlal (25) with whom he added 48 runs for the sixth wicket, then with Roshan Khemraj (16 not out) in an unbroken 26-run seventh-wicket stand. And 43 extras in their innings also helped bolster their total. Barrackpore entered the final over needing six runs, but Khamraj struck the winning runs with two balls to spare, to spark off wild celebrations among their supporters.

All seemed lost for Barrackpore when star batsman Jason Mohammed fell for three after the openers posted 54 runs in 10 overs. And when Barrackpore lost five wickets for 35 runs Princes Town seemed headed for victory. Princes Town after winning the toss rattled up 138 for two wickets, with  opener Timothy Surujbally scoring 50 from  63 balls. But just when the Green Hornets appeared to be dominating the Barrackpore bowling, Bachan was brought into the attack and he put the brakes on the run-scoring with figures of 6-0-21-0. And attempting to hit their way out of the rut, Princes Town lost seven wickets for 24 runs. Later,  Princes Town failed to show up at the prize distribution ceremony, and Omar Khan of the sponsors PowerGen called on the officials of the Secondary School Cricket League to launch an investigation into the matter. A huge crowd attended the game complete with tassa drumming and steelband entertainment.

Summarised scores: PRINCES TOWN 162/9 (30overs) - R Ramsaroop 54, T Surujbally 50, Andre Brown 15, Roger Seenath 3/22, Jason Mohammed 3/31 vs BARRACKPORE 163/6 (29.4 overs) - F Jugmohan 31, Kareem Mohammed 21, G Nandlal 25, R Bachan 20 not out, R Khemraj 16 not out, Akiel Molon 2/24, Marvin Phillip 2/34.
Man-of-match: Rishi Bachan.
Best batsman: Rossi Ramsaroop.
Best bowler: Roger Seenath.
Best fielder: Marvin Phillip.