Mbeki Joseph powered Mad Bulls to their first win in the fifth edition of the Dream XI Trinidad T10 Blast over Blue Devils, by 57 runs, at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair, Port-of-Spain, on Tuesday.
Sent in to bat first, Mad Bulls scored 147 for 1 from their 10 overs. Joseph, who turned out with the Combined Campuses and Colleges in the Cricket West Indies First Class tournament, hit six fours and seven sixes in his 39-ball knock.
Fellow opener Nicholas Sookdeosingh, who made the move from Clarke Road to Police this season, scored an unbeaten 50 from 21 balls, hitting four fours and an equal number of maximums.
A target of 148 is always a daunting feat. The scorecard pressure was too much for Blue Devils, even a steady start from Red Force batsman Jyd Goolie who scored 18 from nine and Silus Cooper who scored 14 from 8 could not help Blue Devils to get over the line.
Vikesh Harrylochan provided a top score for the Blue Devils with Ewart Nicholson getting to 15, but it wasn’t even close enough as Blue Devils closed on 90 for five to hand Mad Bulls the 57-run win and their first victory from six matches.
Summarised Scores
Mad Bulls 147 /1 (10 overs) (Mbeki Joseph 82; Nickolas Sookdeosingh 50*; Vikesh Harrylochan 1-6) vs Blue Devils 90 /5 (10 overs) (Vikesh Harrylochan 22; Jyd Goolie 18; Darius Besai 3-8). Mad Bulls won by 57 runs.
Parakeet Buccaneers 46 /4 (4 overs) (Emmanuel Garcia 15; Sharon Lewis 2-8) vs Cocrico Cavaliers 40/3 (4 overs) (Amir Jangoo 21; Ramesh Brill 2-9). Buccaneers won by 6 runs (DLS)
<Rouse, Craig bat Paragon to victory over EYM>
Paragon batsmen Franklyn Rouse and Iqwe Craig both hit half-centuries to guide Paragon to a seven-wicket win over El Socorro Youth Movement (EYM) when the T&T Cricket Board’s (TTCB) North Zone Cricket Council’s T20 Festival got underway at the Diego Martin Regional Sports Complex on Monday evening.
EYM, who had gained promotion back to the TTCB National Premier II were expected to take the opening match in the 2024 season.
The El Socorro team was sent into bat and got a steady start from openers Ryan Inniss (22) and Kwasi Alfred (46) but wickets in the middle order stunted the progress briefly.
Alex Kassiram scored 31 and Keon Isaac scored 42 not out in the back end of the innings as they scored 185 for 6 from 20 overs.
In response, Paragon lost captain Clifton Halls (11) and Stefon Surzano (1) and was reduced to 26 for 2 in the fifth over.
A 62-run partnership between Iqwe Craig (79 not out) and guest player from Queen’s Park Joshua Ramdoo (23) steadied Paragon’s chase before Rouse came to the crease and bludgeoned the bowling, hitting the ball high into the Diego Martin night sky, putting passing vehicles in the Diego Martin Road in danger from the flying missiles.
Paragon scored 189 for 3 in 20 overs to start the 2024 season with a healthy win.
Summarised Scores
EYM 185 /6 (20 overs) (Kwasi Alfred 46; Keon Isaac 42 not out; Clifton Harris 1-29) vs Paragon 189 /3 (18.5 overs) (Iqwe Craig 79 not out; Franklyn Rouse 69 not out; Yohan Sirjoo 2-48). Paragon won by 7 wickets.