It was a contrasting day of cricket as two matches seemed like they were played on two different pitches as the T&T Cricket Board T10 Blast Dream 11 continued at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, San Fernando on Saturday.
In the first match of the day between Giants T&T by Maq Group and Fides Limited Scarlet Ibis Scorchers, Giants were sent into bat first and their number three batsman, whoever it would have been, was not required to bat as openers Mark Deyal and Shatrughan Rambaran batted throughout the 10 overs.
Giants accumulated 133 without loss in their innings, with Deyal who has recently returned to the Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League, hit ten fours and three sixes as he plundered 69 from 38 balls.
Rambaran meanwhile got to a violent 52 from just 23 balls, hitting three fours and five sixes in the process.
In their reply, Scorchers looked on course to win the match with a couple of overs to spare as openers Kamil Pooran and Joshua Da Silva looked like they were going to replicate the feat by the Giants openers.
They were 70 without loss after three overs with Da Silva going berserk on the bowlers, not sparing any loose ball or good ball. After six overs they were 103 without loss and needed only 31 in 24 balls.
But they lost both openers, first Pooran, at 103 for 1. The Red Force opener made 39 from 19 balls, hitting three fours and three sixes in his stay. Not long after, the West Indies A team captain was dismissed for 63, having faced only 20 balls, hitting five fours and six sixes in his blitz.
Losing three wickets was just a speed bump in the road to victory for the Scorchers who reached 137 for three with 4 balls to spare to win by seven wickets. The recently married Mark Deyal, despite a hard time for the bowlers, claimed two wickets to go along with his match-best knock of 69.
In the second match between Samps Army Cocrico Cavaliers and Rungetters, the bowlers had a better time.
The Cavaliers were sent into bat first and reached 82 for four in their 10 overs. Sion Hackett continued his good form, bringing his batting form into the tournament from the North Zone T20 campaign with Glenora as their guest player.
The right-handed middle order, who is a genuine all-rounder scored 28 from 14 balls, with five fours and a six, while Cephas Cooper, who is having a productive 2023, also scored 28, but from 17 balls, hitting one four and three sixes in the process.
Tevon Jadoo took two for 14 as the best bowler for Rungetters.
In reply, Rungetters would have been encouraged by the fact that in the three previous matches in this year’s edition of the tournament, the chasing teams won.
Added to the fact they had in their lineup the in-form duo of Vikash Mohan and Nicholas Sookdeosingh who have both been returning some excellent numbers this year. But they both back in the pavilion as Rungetters were reduced to 15 for three in the fourth over.
Jamaican Kenroy Williams top-scored with 27, but when he was out, they were 66 for six and needed 17 runs in 7 balls. In the end, Rungetters did not get the runs as they fell short at 72 for eight, losing by ten runs.
BRIEF SCORES
Giants 133/ 0 (10 overs) (Mark Deyal 69 not out, Shatrughan Rambaran 52 not out) vs
Scarlet Ibis Scorchers 137/ 3 (9.2 overs) ( Joshua Da Silva 63, Kamil Pooran 39, Mark Deyal 2-15)
Scarlet Ibis Scorchers won by seven wickets
Samps Army Cocrico Cavaliers 82/4 (10 overs) (Cephas Cooper 28, Sion Hacket 28 not out, Tevon Jadoo 2-14) vs
Rungetters 72/8 (10 overs) (Kenroy Williams 27, Keon Isaac 3-10)
Cavaliers won by 10 runs.
