Indians romp to victory

Led by a blistering unbeaten 89 from Connor Williams, India “A” scored an emphatic six-wicket victory over Trinidad and Tobago in the fourth round of the Carib Beer Series regional cricket  tournament at Wilson Road, Penal, yesterday.

Scores: TT 262 & 181 vs India “A” 215 & 231/4. Resuming on the strong overnight position of 117 for the loss one wicket, needing 228 to win, India received an early setback with the loss of Goutam Gambhir for 67 with the score at 124. He was caught behind off the bowling of Marlon Black. Seven runs later the handful of spectators was cheering as Black sent back skipper VVS Laxman for four. The Indian Test player was bowled with his team still 97 runs short of their target. Ambati Rayudu joined Williams and they pushed TT out of the match with a 44-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Pacer Ravi Rampaul removed Rayudu with the score at 175 for 29 but there was no stopping the Indians on the day. Abijeet Kale, with an unbeaten 34, and Williams who struck 89, took their team to 231 for four wickets just after the lunch break to seal the 12 points awarded for an outright victory. Williams batted for 292 minutes, faced 180 balls and struck nine fours. Black was the pick of the local bowlers with three wickets for 66 runs. The home team will hope to get their campaign back on trail with a victory against Barbados in their fifth round clash at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown this weekend. Indian skipper Laxman said yesterday he was very happy to get the first win in the tournament. “We were down a bit in the first part of the match but came back very nicely to win this one.  “As the tour has progressed we have played better and better cricket. We now look forward to the remainder of matches with greater confidence,” Laxman said.