By ZAID MOHAMMED
TRINIDAD and Tobago defeated Guyana by nine wickets today at the National Cricket Center in Balmain, Couva to sound a warning as the Cricket West Indies Regional Under-17 Tournament bowled off.
After Sion Hackett and Darren Samuel took three wickets each to tumble out the visitors for 91 all out in 38.3 overs, Jeremiah Cruickshank (42 not out) and Kyle Roopchand (38 not out) knocked off the target in 19.5 overs.
It was an auspicious start for the TT boys who last year narrowly lost out on the regional title by 0.1 of a point to eventual winners Barbados, and their strong performance on Saturday underlined the home team’s all-round strength against worthy opponents.
Batting first, the Guyanese youngsters found the going tough with only Mavindra Dindial, who hit two centuries in last year’s tournament, showing any resistance with patient innings of 42 with four boundaries.
No other Guyana batsman reached double figures as Samlal (7-3-10-3), Hackett (7.3-1-20-3), Chadion Raymond (6-2-12-2) and Isiah Gomez (6-1-14-2) established their team’s dominance.
With less than half-hour’s play before the lunch break, TT negotiated some anxious moments and went in at 14 without loss but were more assured and purposeful on the resumption to reach their target quite easily in the end.
The TT victory was especially momentous as it marked the first match in a managerial role for Red Force allrounder Rayad Emrit who expressed satisfaction with the performance of the team.
