"It's a team of great character, a never die attitude."
This is how coach Dasrath Maharaj described his Under-17 national cricket team, which won the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Tobago House of Assembly Regional 50-over tournament in Tobago on Sunday.
The Varindra Jagrup-captained team won four of their five matches in the round-robin tournament. Their only loss came against Jamaica in round three by two wickets. In the fifth and final round of matches on Sunday, T&T needed to defeat Guyana and Barbados had to lose against the Leeward Islands. T&T did their part, chasing down a competitive 243 to win the match by four wickets with Jeron Maniram hitting a brilliant unbeaten 94. The national team then kept a watchful eye on the Barbados encounter, as it was still in progress.
When the results came in that Barbados went down to the Leeward islands by 35 runs, it was jubilation among the T&T squad. T&T finished on 24.8 points, while Barbados finished as runners-up on 19.9 points.
All of T&T's matches went down to the wire. "We provided gripping and exciting cricket throughout the tournament," Maharaj said yesterday in a phone interview.
Maharaj said the team bounced back well after the defeat to Jamaica. "The team had to re-group, I told them we still have a chance in the tournament," he said.
The team then won their last two matches, against Barbados and Guyana to lift the title.
National opening batsman Amir Jangoo won the Most Valuable Player award at the closing ceremony on Sunday night. "I knew he would come good," Maharaj said on Jangoo's performance. The left-handed Merry Boys player scored 259 runs in the competition, at an average of 51.8.
Maharaj also made special mention of the middle order. He intentionally dropped some of the team's top batsmen low down the order to strengthen the middle order. Maniram, Jyd Goolie, Clevon Kalawan and Brandon Jaggernauth all made valuable contributions throughout the tournament. Maniram and Jaggernauth shared in a 109-run unbroken seventh wicket partnership against Guyana that ultimately sealed the title.
All-rounders Clevon Kalawan and Bryan Boodram will be included on the national U-19 team for their performances in the WICB tournament.
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