Trinidad and Tobago Under-17 cricketers, led by all-rounder Brendan Boodoo, lifted their first youth title for 2024 winning the Cricket West Indies (CWI) U-17 Rising Stars 50-Over Championship, after their match against Barbados ended in no result at Inshan Ali Park, Preysal, Couva, on Monday.
The national U-17 team followed the U-15 squad in 2023, also led by Boodoo who played unbeaten to win their CWI Rising Stars U-15 Tournament.
The U-17 tournament is the last of the Rising Stars tournaments, following the U-15 (During the Easter vacation) and the U-19 (During the July-August vacation).
Boodoo was instrumental with both bat and ball as he led from the front with figures of six for 22 in the win against Guyana in the 50-Over competition. His 52 saved his team from defeat against the Guyanese in the Two-Day format among the fine performances during the campaign.
Coming into the match yesterday, T&T brought in 18 points, three points ahead of Barbados (15).
The home team was sent to bat and struggled to 23 for three with Samir Saroop (1), Ryan Yearwood (1) and Joseph Mendoza (5) all back in the pavilion.
But Darrius Batoosingh’s good form continued with 29 and shared in a 54-run partnership with Boodoo, who scored 30, which repaired the damage.
After the quick wickets of both batsmen, Christian Lall took over and scored 46. His partnership with Renaldo Fournillier (11) lasted 36 runs and a further partnership of 37 runs with Cristian Ramanan (10) helped the hosts post 159 all out in 46.4 overs.
Barbados, in reply, reached 28 for one in five overs.
The no result meant that T&T got to two points and the 0.2 bonus points to finish with 20.2 points, ahead of Barbados with 17.6 points, turning the table around from the 2023 edition.
Head coach Earnil Ryan, who replaced Rayad Emrit, was in full praise of the young team.
"I am happy to have been given us the opportunity to play this tournament and be able to coach these bunch of young men here,” said the former national senior player.
“But over the period of just about two months or so coming into the tournament, I think people were short of practice. I know a lot of people would have been talking about that before. They really didn’t give us too much of a chance because our batting wasn’t one to be desired.”
Despite the disappointment of finishing fifth in the Two-Day portion of the campaign, Ryan reaffirmed he was always confident in the shorter format.
“I always believe the shorter version of the game would have been better for us for the simple reason that we are accustomed to playing more 50-overs cricket,” said Ryan.
Barbados was the reigning champions in both the Two-Day and 50-Over formats, finishing ahead of T&T via bonus points, as the host country, like the Barbadians, finished the tournament unbeaten. Both teams have gone two consecutive 50-Over tournaments (2023 and 2024) undefeated at the U-17 level.
SUMMARISED SCORES:
At Inshan Ali Park: Match between T&T and Barbados ended in a no result.
T&T 159 in 46.4 overs (Christian Lall 46, Brendan Boodoo 30, Darrius Batoosingh 29, Renaldo Fournillier 11, Christiano Ramanan 10; Zachary Carter 4-20) vs BARBADOS 29-1 in five overs (Damarko Wiggins 20).
At the National Cricket Centre: Match between Guyana and Leeward Islands ended in a no result.
GUYANA 171 in 40.5 overs (Vikash Wilkinson 34, Rampersaud Ramnauth 31, Romario Ramdeholl 23, Afraz Ali Budhoo 14, Riyad Latiff 13; Isra-el Morton 3-34, Jaheem Clarke 2-20, Micah McKenzie 2-24) vs LEEWARD ISLANDS 35-1 in eight overs (Tanez Francis 17 not out).
At Gilbert Park: Match between Windward Islands and Jamaica abandoned without a ball being bowled.