Saiba Batoosingh and Sachin Seecharan stole the show yesterday for the national Under-15 cricket team, guiding the unit into a commanding position at the close of day one in their round three match against the Leeward Islands in the West Indies Cricket Board Regional U-15 tournament in Jamaica.Bowling first at the Manley Horne Ground, T&T restricted the Leeward Islands to 78 all out. Medium pace bowler Seecharan took 3/16, while Joel Sutherland and Amrit Kistow continued their good form, grabbing 3/5 and 2/18 respectively.
The Leewards tail enders did well, as they were 27/6 at one stage. Jeremiah Louis made a valiant unbeaten 24 for the Leewards.In reply, right-handed Batoosingh continued his good form, scoring 70 to guide T&T to 157 all out. Batoosingh struck 38 in a 23-run loss to Barbados in the last round. This gave T&T a huge lead of 79 runs on first innings. Seecharan also pitched in with 15. Trevor Hanley was the chief destroyer for the Leewards, taking 5/45.
In their second turn at the crease, Seecharan snatched 3/15 to leave the Leeward Islands wobbling on 49/6 at the close of play. The Leeward Islands will continue their second innings today still 30 runs behind, with only four wickets in hand.T&T also picked up 0.9 bowling bonus points yesterday in the first innings. For every wicket taken by a fast or medium pace bowler in the tournament 0.1 points are awarded. In the first innings, Seecharan took three wickets, fast bowler Sutherland also grabbed three and the fast-medium of Kistow snatched two.
Scores
AT MANLEY HORNE: Leeward Islands 78 (29 overs) (Jeremiah Louis 24 no, Joel Sutherland 3/5, Sachin Seecharan 3/16, Amrit Kistow 2/18) and 49/6 (20 overs) (Seecharan 3/15) vs T&T 157 (41.4 overs) (Saiba Batoosingh 70, Seecharan 15, Aaron Mairam 14, Trevor Hanley 5/45)
AT STETHS: Barbados 121 and 47/3 vs Windward Islands 146
AT TREASURE BEACH: Jamaica 99 and 54/5 vs Guyana 95/9