‘Pres’ Chaguanas march on

PRESENTATION College, Chag-uanas once again asserted their superiority over their South-Central rivals and moved into an unassailable lead in the PowerGen Secondary Schools Cricket League South-Central Zone Champion-ship Division title race. The Lalman Kowlessar-coached team made light work of the Union Claxton Bay Senior Comprehensive and registered an emphatic triumph by an innings and 36 runs. The comprehensive victory margin gave them 26 points which carried their overall points tally to an impregnable 123, with one round remaining in the round robin play-offs. Once again it was the outstanding performances of skipper Manoj Sirju (78 and two wickets for five runs), Adrian Barath (41 not out), Ansil Bhaggan (five for 15), Anthony O’Garro (four for nine) which propelled them to victory on their own ground on Tuesday.

UCB were skittled out for 63 with Valmiki Deonarine (two for one), Sirju (two for five), Kavesh Kantasingh (two for nine) as the wreckers. Then promising Barath and Jairaj (27) provided them with a steady 55-run first wicket partnership. Kowlessar said: “I have been teaching and coaching at this school since the sixties and these sixes are the biggest I have seen hit by any player. We have probably the biggest school ground in the country and he Manoj (Sirju) cleared the school building which is also very big.” “It was unbelievable that he is hitting the ball so hard and so far. It was another special batting performance by the captain. I am now hoping that he can do that for (Alescon) Comet in the National League Division One competition. If he can do that in the National League, he will strengthen his chances to play for the national team,” Kowlessar said. “He is very talented and we expect him to go far.”

In all Sirju hit eight sixes and four fours in his hurricane 78. And together with Barath, they carried the score from 55 for one to 158 for two when the declaration was made. Barath remained undefeated on 41 with three fours to his name. Medium pacer Anthony O’Garro (four for nine) and off-spinner Ansil Bhaggan (five for 15) swept away UCB for 58 in the second innings, thus sparking a mini-celebration for the rampant “Pres Boys.” They are followed by former champion Princes Town Senior Comprehensive, who got first innings honours from Pleasantville and 18 valuable points. The Harold Boodram-coached team are in second spot on 83 points and only an abandoned match with no points for “Pres” Chaguanas plus a convincing victory and more than 20 points will allow the Princes Town school to overhaul their arch-rivals for the zonal crown.

The Shal Ramkissoon-coached Barrackpore Senior also stayed in contention for a quarter-final berth when they secured first innings lead over Naparima College. They are in third position with 73 points of the eight-team table. It was spinner Rishi Bachan who returned to school cricket and claimed six for 45 which ensured that Naparima’s score was not beyond his team-mates. They restricted them to 172 with national Under-17 football captain Javed Mohammed the topscorer with a brilliant undefeated 85. Jason Mohammed 58, Shirvan Sankar 54 and Gary Nandlal 54 rallied Barrackpore to 205 for first innings lead. Although Naps conceded first innings they gained eight valuable points which also kept alive their chances of the other quarter-final place. The Baldath Bodoe-coached outfit has 50 points.

In the North-East marquee match, El Dorado Secondary and Toco Composite players were affected by a sudden shower and ended up sharing five and four points each, for the abandoned fixture at Rampalnagas Ground, Balandra. But there was enough time for Toco’s 19-year-old Devon Nelson to continue his prolific form with another century, his fourth for the season. The left-handed opener’s innings contained six sixes and 11 fours. And he shared in a 110-run fourth wicket partnership with Gewan Ramroop who made 24. Toco made 196 while El Dorado Secondary reached 130 for six wickets. El Dorado heads the North-East Zonal standings with 94 points and must now fancy their chances of claiming one title for the season. But they will have to win their final round match by an overwhelming margin.