Je­lani Beck­les

Mario Bel­con led the way for Mer­ry Boys yes­ter­day, as the leader end­ed day one in a com­mand­ing po­si­tion against Cli­co Preysal in round eight of the Shang­hai Con­struc­tion Group Na­tion­al League at the In­shan Ali Park.Bel­con was one of four bats­men get­ting half-cen­turies as Mer­ry Boys bat­tet first and post­ed a mas­sive 353/7 de­clared.Bel­con top scored with 68, while Aneil Kan­hai (65), Aaron Al­fred (54) and young Amir Jan­goo (51) all made valu­able con­tri­bu­tions to the to­tal. Left-hand­ed Jan­goo led the na­tion­al Un­der-17 team to the West In­dies Crick­et Board To­ba­go House of As­sem­bly U-17 50-over ti­tle last year. Guyanese spin­ner Nars­ingh De­onar­ine was the on­ly suc­cess­ful bowler, grab­bing 3/71.

In re­ply, Preysal closed the day on 67/5, still 286 runs be­hind Mer­ry Boys. De­onar­ine scored 32, while Videsh Sookhai pitched in with 26. Kashtri Singh (2/2) and Javon Sear­les (2/11) were the chief de­stroy­ers for Mer­ry Boys, as they both bagged two wick­ets.At the Queen's Park Oval, sec­ond placed Queen's Park dom­i­nat­ed Ale­scon Comets to give them­selves a great chance of an out­right win. Comets were bun­dled out for a pal­try 77 runs, as na­tion­al left-arm spin­ner Akeal Ho­sein took 6/35. Daron Cruick­shank bagged 3/17, while Vishal Singh (45) was the on­ly bats­man to show re­silience. Singh was the lone bats­man to get in­to dou­ble fig­ures.

Je­re­my Solozano, who rep­re­sent­ed the West In­dies U-19 team ear­li­er this year, end­ed the day on 123 not out lead­ing the Parkites to 253/2. Solozano's knock came off 216 balls, which in­clud­ed 15 fours and one six. Af­ter los­ing cap­tain Justin Guillen for 23, Solozano and Dar­ren Bra­vo shared in a 194-run stand be­fore the lat­ter fell for 84 with the score on 234. Bra­vo struck five fours and five six­es in his knock.De­fend­ing cham­pi­ons Pow­er­gen are al­so in a po­si­tion to grab an out­right win. Bat­ting first Pow­er­gen post­ed 206 be­hind 35 from West In­dies wick­et-keep­er De­nesh Ramdin. Spin bowler Kavesh Kan­tas­ingh then took 3/45, as Bam­boo was 138/8 at stumps.All match­es con­tin­ue to­day at 9.30 am.

SCORES

At In­shan Ali Park: Mer­ry Boys 353/7 dec (Mario Bel­con 68, Aneil Kan­hai 65, Aaron Al­fred 54, Amir Jan­goo 51, Nars­ingh De­onar­ine 3/71) vs Preysal 67/5 (De­onar­ine 32, Videsh Sookhai 26, Kashtri Singh 2/2, Javon Sear­les 2/11)

At Es­mer­al­da: Es­mer­al­da 146 (Ethan Bhal 43, Keon Isaac 39, Daniel St Clair 3/30, Amir Khan 3/49) and 157/3 (Trevon Grif­fith 69, An­tho­ny D'An­drade 56 no) vs Table­land 121 (Evin Lewis 40, William Perkins 28, Ah­keel Mol­lon 4/40, Isaac 3/26, Ker­win Sir­ju 2/27)

At Bam­boo: Pow­er­gen 206 (De­nesh Ramdin 35, Nicholas Sookdeosingh 31, Sher­win Gan­ga 24, Selvin Ja­cobs 5/83, Yan­nic Cari­ah 2/12) vs Bam­boo 138/8 (Nash­wan Latch­man 33, Kr­ish­na Ar­june 31, Kavesh Kan­tas­ingh 3/45, An­cil Bha­gan 2/17)

At Queen's Park Oval: Comets 77 (Vishal Singh 45, Akeal Ho­sein 6/35, Daron Cruick­shank 3/17) vs Queen's Park 253/2 (Je­re­my Solozano 123 no, Dar­ren Bra­vo 84, Singh 1/6, Mar­lon Barath 1/66)

At Hon­ey­moon Park: Cal­drac 199 (Omesh Ra­moutar 45, Allen Lau­rent 40, Franklyn Rouse 31, Vikash Mo­han 5/51, Nameer Seep­aul 4/51) vs Moo­sai 108/5 (Adri­an Coop­er 35 no, Isi­ah Ra­jah 27, Lau­rent 3/7)

At Wil­son Road: Clarke Road 328 (Ryan Ram­dass 138, Yan­nick Ot­t­ley 30, Adri­an Ali 28, Ray Jor­dan 28, Ran­ga Lachana 28, Nishal Gayadeen 5/90, Hanu­man Moon­sam­my 2/10) vs Munroe Road 93/6 (Shaquille Al­lick 36 no, Jor­dan 2/28, Derone Davis 2/36)