The University of the West Indies (UWI) opened the inaugural World University T20 Cup with a 21-run win over TSATT at the UWI SPEC in St Augustine on Thursday night.
Led by Marlon Richards, UWI held its nerve in defending 130 runs to record a 21-run victory.
UWI batted first against the Tertiary Sports Association of T&T, TSATT and made 130 for nine wickets off their 20 overs. Leading the way was Al Small who scored 46 off 48 balls with four fours and one six. Richard Forde was also in good touch when he scored 31 off 23 balls with three fours and a six. The pick of the bowlers for TSATT was A Sankar 3/8 and Saiba Battoosingh 2/19.
When TSATT took to the crease, it was expected winning target was achievable, however, it was not to be, as the experience of Richards up front created problems. The right-hander grabbed two wickets while Jovan Ali and C Pennyfeather also got into the wicket-taking act. Pennyfeather was the best of the lot, as he finished with 3/18. Battoosingh scored 29 off 31 deliveries but it was not enough to take his team over the ropes.
Meanwhile, in the tournament, Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) sent a message to all as they easily took care of Oxford University. T&T's Kjorn Ottley showed his good form again with a quick 40 in a chase of 145. He and Kyle Corbin made it look very easy as they took the reigning Super50 champions to a six-wicket victory at 145/4. Earlier, Oxford scored 144/4 on a good batting strip Christopher McBride got 61 off 41 balls and towards the end, James Seward got 44 not out.
UNIVERSITY CRICKET SCORES
Oxford 144/4 (Christopher McBride 61, James Seward 44 n.o, Michael Powell 2/35) vs CCC 145/4 (Kyle Corbin 53, Kjorn Ottley 40, Johnnel Eugene 25no, Dominic Clutterbuck 2/24, Louie Shaw 2/28). CCC won by five wickets.
UWI 130/9 (20) (Al Small 46, Rachard Forde 31, A Sankar 3/8, S Battoosingh 2/19) vs TSATT 109 all out (18.3) (Saiba Battoosingh 29, Marlon Richards 2/13, C Pennyfeather 3/18, Jovan Ali 2/23). UWI won by 21 runs.