T&T duo tops U-17 bowling chart

T&T duo tops U-17 bowling chart

Jelani Beckles
Published: Guardian
Thursday, July 16, 2015

The national Under-17 cricket team with coaching staff at the West Indies Cricket Board Regional U-17 tournament in Tobago. PHOTO COURTESY DIVISION OF EDUCATION, YOUTH AFFAIRS AND SPORT (TOBAGO HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY).
The national Under-17 cricket pair of Kirstan Kallicharan and Nathaniel McDavid topped the bowling chart at the recently concluded West Indies Cricket Board Regional 50-over U-17 tournament in Tobago.

T&T finished second in the tournament with 19.4 points after winning three of its five matches, but finished first and third among the top bowlers in the competition. Leg spinner Kallicharan who captained the T&T team, snatched 15 wickets in the tournament to end as the leading wicket-taker. His average was 9.13 at an economy rate of 3.26.

Off-break bowler McDavid grabbed 12 wickets in the tournament at an average of 12.92. He also dried up the runs, bowling at an economy rate of 3.63. Barbadians Donte Niles and Jarion Hoyte both took ten wickets to finish fourth and fifth respectively. Leeward Islands bowler Zawandi Whyte finished second with 13 wickets.

Among the batsmen, the Windward Islands duo of Emmanuel Stewart and Allick Athanaze topped the charts with 189 runs and 175 runs in what was a disappointing tournament for the batsmen. Opener Keagan Simmons was the best T&T batsman, scoring 146 runs at an average of 36.50 to finish sixth in the standings.

...Williams: Batsmen did not show up

T&T coach Kelvin Williams said the bowlers had a solid tournament but the batsmen did not show up. He said: "Throughout the tournament the bowlers did an excellent job, but the batsmen did not come to the party. We have some good batters on the team but none of the batsmen scored 150 runs in the tournament. That was a concern."

Williams added: "The goal was to win the tournament, a lot of the players did not achieve their personal goals, but sometimes goals need to be realistic so you can achieve it and plan ahead."

In the last round against Guyana, the match was called off because of bad light with T&T 133/7 after 42.1 overs chasing a revised target of 163 in 47 overs. Guyana was declared the winner by seven runs on the Dukworth-Lewis method, handing Windward Islands the title.

The coach believed the target was attainable. "We went out there and bowled Guyana out for under 200. The target was one that we could have achieved. The plan was to bat out the overs and get the runs."

FINAL STANDINGS

Team P W L BP NRR Pts

Windward Islands 5 4 1 0.9 1.923 24.9

T&T 5 3 2 1.4 0.569 19.4

Jamaica 5 3 2 1.4 -0.385 19.4

Guyana 5 3 2 0.2 0.390 18.2

Barbados 5 2 3 1.4 -0.370 13.4

Leeward Islands 5 0 5 1.2 -2.819 1.2

TOP BOWLERS

Name Team P Wkts Avg Econ

Kirstan Kallicharan T&T 5 15 9.13 3.26

Zawandi Whyte Leeward Islands 5 13 12.77 4.15

Nathaniel McDavid T&T 5 12 12.92 3.63

Donte Niles Barbados 5 10 13.90 3.39

Jarion Hoyte Barbados 5 10 10.80 3.41

TOP BATSMEN

Name Team P Inns Top Score Runs Avg 50s 100s

Emmanuel Stewart Windward Islands 5 5 103no 189 47.25 0 1

Allick Athanaze Windward Islands 5 5 85 175 35.00 1 0

Shian Brathwaite Barbados 5 5 39no 155 51.67 0 0

Rolando Alimohamed Guyana 5 5 70 146 36.50 1 0

Brad Barnes Jamaica 5 5 74no 146 36.50 2 0