A duck for Lara in Angostura Classic

WEST INDIES captain Brian Lara fell without scoring yesterday, as the Rush XI defeated XS by five wickets at the National Cricket Centre, Balmain, Couva, to square the three-match Angostura Cricket Classic at 1-1. Lara, playing for XS was caught at slip by Aniel Kanhai off left-arm spinner Davindra Krishna. The champion batsman, who recently struggled to score runs in Barbados playing for Maple, faced just three deliveries. With his dismissal XS were bowled out for 104 off 23.4 overs. Pacer Riyad Emrit was the chief destroyer taking five wickets for 26 runs and was ably supported by Krishna and Imran Jan who got  two wickets apiece.

Rush XI led by Daren Ganga  raced to the victory target, reaching 105 for five wickets in 25.5 overs, with  Kanhai 35 and Ganga 21 the chief scorers. Off-spinner Amit Jaggernauth who scored 19 when XS batted grabbed three wickets for 17 runs, to be the leading wicket taker with six wickets in the series. The first prize of $4,500 together with the runners-up purse of $3,000 will be added and divided between the teams. After the game, the national selectors allowed some of the players to partake in a 15 overs practice game as the weather which ruined Saturday’s match was glorious yesterday. Meanwhile, the selectors were scheduled to meet last night to finalise the 14-man Trinidad and Tobago squad for  the Red Stripe Bowl. Following  the naming of the squad,  those selected will enter a week-long camp at the Sir Frank Worrell Cricket Development Centre. Trinidad and Tobago are grouped in Zone B of the Red Stripe Bowl and will be based in Jamaica. Last time Trinidad and Tobago won  the regional limited overs title was in 1997 with Lara at the helm.

Summarised scores: XS XI 104 (23.4 overs) - Earnil Ryan 25, Dinanath Ramnarine 25, A Jaggernauth 19, R Emrit 5/26, D Krishna 2/11, Imran Jan 2/10 vs RUSH XI 105/5 (25.5overs) - A Kanhai 35, D Ganga 21, Andy Jackson 17, A Jaggernauth 3/17.
Man-of-match: Riyad Emrit.