Na­tion­al youth play­ers Tariq Mo­hammed and Liam Mam­chan were in ex­cel­lent form, as they com­bined to lead South Zone to a crush­ing nine-wick­et vic­to­ry over South West in the open­ing round of the TTCB U-17 In­ter­zone se­ries at Syne Vil­lage, Pe­nal on Wednes­day.

Mo­hammed won the toss and sent South West in­to bat, a de­ci­sion that was vin­di­cat­ed by Mam­chan by the sec­ond ball of the in­nings. The right arm fast bowler sent the stumps off open­er Math­ais Ko­mal cart­wheel­ing that be­gan the slide.

The Na­pari­ma Col­lege stu­dent then grabbed an­oth­er wick­et in his third over to leave South West tot­ter­ing. Mo­hammed him­self would come in­to the at­tack to grab two wick­ets and when he brought back Mam­chan he re­moved the stub­born Car­lvin Loubon for a top score of 18, as South West fell for 102. Pace bowler Mam­chan end­ed the in­nings with 3/11 off six overs, while Mo­hammed took 2/13 and Dar­ren Sam­lal 1/8 off 10 overs with six maid­ens.

When South replied, it was the classy Mo­hammed who made bat­ting look very easy on the Pow­er­Gen track. He cracked an un­beat­en 65 off 45 balls with six hits to the fence. He and open­er Vi­nesh Nar­ine with 32 added a half-cen­tu­ry stand that took the fight out of South West. Nar­ine end­ed with 32.

In an­oth­er Group B clash, Cen­tral got the bet­ter of South East by six wick­ets at St. Julien. South East bat­ting first strug­gled to 71 all out with Aroon Go­piechans­ingh get­ting a top score of 16. Shi­va Sankar 3/16 and Nic Ram­lal 3/7, were very good with the ball. Cen­tral in re­ply got home at 72/4 with na­tion­al un­der-15 play­er Kyle Kissoon­dath top scor­ing with 19. Isa­iah Gomez and Goo­p­iechans­ingh each claimed two wick­ets but in vain.

In Group A, North and East played a thriller at Ser­pen­tine Road in St. Clair. East made just 98 all out with Gio­van­ni Ga­jad­har get­ting 27 and J Phillip 23. Fa­ti­ma's Aidan Sama­roo claimed 3/5 while Ab­dur Ju­man took 2/22. When North bat­ted they made heavy weath­er of the tar­get but was able to scrape home at 102/9 with Ger­ard Chin get­ting 33.

TTCB U-17 SCORES

At Syne Vil­lage: South West 102 all out (44) (Cameron Loubon 18, Rashard Cox 18, Liam Mam­chan 3/11, Tariq Mo­hammed 2/13, Dar­ren Sam­lal 1/8) vs South 103/1 (17.2) (Tariq Mo­hammed 65, Ven­ish Nar­ine 32) - South won by 9 wk­ts.

At St. Julien: South East 71 all out (Aroon Go­piechans­ingh 16, Shi­va Sankar 3/16, Nic Ram­lal 3/7) Cen­tral 72/4 (Kyle Kissoon­dath 19, Isa­iah Gomez 2/13, Am­rit Goo­p­iechans­ingh 2/19) - Cen­tral won by 6 wk­ts.

At Ser­pen­tine Rd: East 98 all out (Gio­van­ni Ga­jad­har 27, J Phillip 23, Aidan Sama­roo 3/5, Ab­dur Ju­man 2/22, Math­ew Git­tens 2/23) vs North 102/9 (Garard Chin 33, Chadeon Ray­mond 14, Ga­jad­har 3/18, S Mo­hammed 3/35, Hack­ett 2/25) - North won by 1 wkt.