Narsingh Deonarine and Nicholas Sookdeosingh led Powergen to a four-wicket win over Merry Boys on Thursday night in the premier division semifinal of the T&T Cricket Board NGC T20 Festival at the Queen's Park Oval, Port-of-Spain.Deonarine (2/41) and Strassark Sankar (2/33) both took two wickets to limit Merry Boys to a modest 131/7. Barbadian Javon Searles blasted five sixes in an unbeaten knock of 35 (12 balls) for Merry Boys to boost the total at the end. Earlier in the innings, Jeetendra Sookdeo and Mario Belcon made 25 and 22, respectively.
In reply, Powergen got a 60-run opening stand from Sookdeosingh and Rajendra Chandrika. Chandrika was the first batsman out for 20, while Sookdeosingh scored 44 off 38 balls which included eight fours. After Sookdeosingh was dismissed with the score on 82 Deonarine took over. The left-handed Deonarine guided Powergen to the target in 18.3 overs, finishing on 28 not out. Searles (1/20) and Shazan Babwah (1/8) were the top bowlers for Merry Boys.
Earlier in the first semifinal, Kevon Cooper, who recently returned to Trinidad from the Indian Premier League struck 51 for Queen's Park Cricket Club (QPCC) to guide it to a five-wicket win over Jenexcon Tableland. Bowling first, QPCC restricted Tableland to 131/8 as Barbadian pacer Fidel Edwards grabbed 3/32. QPCC got to the target in 18.4 overs, with Cooper and Akeal Hosein (29 not out) leading the way.The final between QPCC and Powergen was to be played last night after at the same venue.
SCORES
Semifinal 1: Tableland 131/8 (Kjorn Ottley 31, Daniel St Clair 30 no, Fidel Edwards 3/32, Khary Pierre 2/24) vs Queen's Park 133/5 (Kevon Cooper 51, Akeal Hosein 29 no, Devendra Krishna 2/29). Queen's Park won by five wickets.
Semifinal 2: Merry Boys 131/7 (Javon Searles 35 no, Jeetendra Sookdeo 25, Mario Belcon 22, Strassark Sankar 2/33, Narsingh Deonarine 2/41) vs Powergen 134/6 (18.3 overs) (Nicholas Sookdeosingh 44, Narsingh Deonarine 28 no, Searles 1/20, Shazan Babwah 1/8). Powergen won by four wickets.