A confident South Pavers team will start as favourites when they come up against North Masqueraders for the inaugural Namalco Under-23 title at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba from 2 pm Saturday.
South Pavers, led by former West Indies Under-19 player Jyd Goolie, had a smooth ride to the finals, playing unbeaten in their three preliminary round matches, while North edged out Central Flamingoes by virtue of their head-to-head clash after they both ended with three points.
South finished their round-robin play with five points from two wins and a rained-off game. They defeated East Leatherbacks in their opening match before taking care of North Masqueraders.
South Pavers manager Stephen Ramkissoon on Friday told Guardian Media: “Firstly, we are hoping that the good Lord gives us fine weather for the game. The rain has caused numerous problems for people in the southland and we are hoping that it eases, so that people can piece together their lives again and also we want to have a full game against North.
“A number of our players come from areas that have been badly affected by the rain and we are hoping to win this title to lift their spirits.
“However, having said that, we have a game to focus on and we will be looking to finish this tournament the way we started, which is strong. Coach Faoud Bassarath has done a great job with this talented bunch of young men and we are looking to continue to push towards the title and this would motivate a lot more cricketers who have fallen off the game in South to come back, knowing that after under-19 there is an avenue for them to still address the national selectors.”
North’s effort will be built around skipper Joshua Da Silva, who has been in brilliant form this year. He has already counted a century and a half-century in this tournament and will be looking to get big runs to give his team the edge.