Central Zone captain Justin Jaggessar led his side to back-to-back T&T Cricket Board (TTCB) Under-15 Inter Zone titles on Thursday against South East at the National Cricket Centre, Balmain, Couva. Jaggessar hit an unbeaten 97 from 131 balls to guide his team to a 54-run victory.
Batting first, Jagassar spent some two-and-a-half hours at the crease hitting seven boundaries and a six. His knock proved pivotal as the rest of batsmen flopped.
Only three scores were in double figures including Rajesh Maharaj and Fareez Ali both scored 20 while opener Terrell Coombs was out for 11. Christon Ramkissoon finished as the pick of the bowlers for South East with two for 33.
In response, the trio of Brandon Deonarine, Tommy Walsh and Emilio Villafana ripped through the South East team. The three bowlers finished with two wickets each as Central Zone bowled out its opponents for just 149 runs inside 50 overs.
Opener Romario King top-scored for South East with 45, batting patiently, before being caught and bowled by Walsh. South East captain Nickyle Jalim had a solid start to his knock, hitting 33 runs before he was also caught and bowled by Deonarine. The contributions thereafter were meagre from the southern team. They eventually succumbed to a 55-run defeat. It capped off another successful season for the defending champions.
Following the win, captain Jaggessar said he was delighted with the victory, but admitted being a little shocked his team defended its title.
He said, "Our plan was to make 170-plus runs because we have a really good bowling attack. The extra 34 runs were a bonus because we were confident of defending a total in the region of 150 to 170 runs."
On his personal knock of 97, the Central Zone captain said he is aiming to make the T&T U-15 team so he focused on his batting.
"When I went out in the middle, I just tried to play a responsible role and get the team to a safe position. My plan was to bat as much as possible and to try to stay out in the middle for the entire innings. I wanted to see how far I could take the team and how much runs we could post," Jaggessar said.
Scores:
Central Zone 204/8 (50 overs) (J Jaggessar 97 not out, R Maharaj 20, A Ali 20; C Ramkissoon 2-33, N Jalim 1-24, J John 1-22) vs South East 149 (48.3 overs) (R King 45, N Jalim 33; E Villafana 2-24, T Walsh 2-26, B Deonarine 2-34). Central Zone won by 55 runs.