Merryboys reign as cricket kings

CERAMIC MERRYBOYS retained their Carib National Cricket League (NCL) Division One title and pocketed the $35,000 prize when they whipped Queen’s Park by eight wickets at the Diego Martin Recreation Ground yesterday, the final day of the 2003 season.

The Diego Martin - based team ended the seven-round competition with 128 points, one more than FCB Clarke Road who drew their match up against Alescon Comet at Wilson Road, Penal. Clarke Road will pick up the runners-up cheque of $15,000 while PowerGen Sports collect  $5,500 after finishing third, following their massive innings and 56-run victory over the demoted Police at Syne Village, Penal. Resuming on their first innings of 219 for three wickets after dismissing the Parkites for 237, Merryboys declared on 352 for eight with West Indies “B” batsman Aneil Kanhai hitting 72 and ex-TT batsman Denis Rampersad, 70.

Pacer Ricardo Paty grabbed three for 97 for Queen’s Park while left-arm spinner Shakeel Ali took three for 83 and national all-rounder Dwayne Bravo two for 98. Former Barbadian and Windies youth team fast bowler Ryan Best captured seven for 70, including a hattrick (Paty, Ali and Logan Stewart) as the Parkites were bowled out for 242 in their second innings. This despite 62 from Deepak Kumar, 50 from Earnil Ryan, 47 from national youth team batsman Petrock Nicholas and 44 from Bravo. Chasing 128 for victory, Merryboys reached their target for the loss of one wicket with all-rounder Lendl Simmons hitting an unbeaten 59 and Lincoln Roberts, 41.

Summarised Scores
At Diego Martin: Queen’s Park 237 — Petrock Nicholas 69, Cleavon Williams 40; Ryan Best 3/53, Rajindra Dhanraj 3/54 and 242 — Deepak Kumar 62, Earnil Ryan 50, Nicholas 47, Bravo 44; Ryan Best 7/70 vs Ceramic Merryboys 352/8 dec — Lincoln Roberts 81, Aneil Kanhai 72, Denis Rampersad 70; Ricardo Paty 3/97, Shakeel Ali 3/83 and 128/1 — Lendl Simmons 59 not out, Roberts 41. Merryboys won by nine wickets. Merryboys 29 pts.
At Wilson Road: Alescon Comet 303 — Anil Balliram 115, Junior Sadhoo 56 not out, Clint Yorke 35; Rishi Bachan 3/75, Mukesh Persad 3/109 vs FCB Clarke Road 396 — Gibran Mohammed 91, Bryson Bagoo 52, David Sultan 48; Dinanath Ramnarine 4/96, Suruj Ragoonath 2/53. Match Drawn. Clarke Road 17 pts, Central Sports 10 pts.
At Syne Village: Police 162 — Garvin Apparicio 57; Samuel Badree 6/53 and 83 - Dave Mohammed 5/16 vs PowerGen Sports 401 — Dave Mohammed 91 not out, David Williams 89, Winston Duncan 62. PowerGen won by an innings and 56 runs. PowerGen 30 pts, Police 5 pts.
At Inshan Ali Park: Central Sports 323 — Davindra Krishna 85, Satish Naidoo 69, Ryad Emrit 51, Navin Chan 46; Magnum Nanan 4/83, Marlon Black 3/66 and 114/5 vs CLICO Preysal 277 — Hollister Pajotte 53, Dinesh Ramdin 38, Miguel Nedd 37; Rodney Sooklal 4/53, D Krishna 3/53. Match Drawn. Central Sports 17 pts, Preysal 10 pts.
Points Standings: 1.Merryboys 128; 2.Clarke Road 127; 3.PowerGen 120; 4.Comet 112;
5.Preysal 106; 6.Central Sports 98; 7.Queen’s Park; 8.Police 42.