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Kaieteur News
Friday July 31, 2015
Umroa, Singh lead Guyana to 4th Regional U-15 title By Sean Devers Watched by a handful of diehard fans under clear blue skies in glorious sunshine Guyana, led by 5-32 from Kelvin Umroa and an attractive 45 from the consistent Sachin Singh, defeated the Windward Islands by 98 run yesterday at the Providence Stadium in the final round of the rain hit West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) 50-over Under-15 cricket tournament to claim their fourth title at this level. The left-handed Singh, who plays for DCC, scored 45 from 52 balls and reached the boundary three times on the large ground. He added 77 for the fourth wicket with Kelvin Anderson (37) after Robin Williams (38) and Junior St Clair (25) had shared in a 73run opening stand as the South Americans reached 199-9 from 50 overs. Dominican off-spinner Jahsean Alexander (4-41) and 13-year-old St Lucian left-arm back-of- the-hand bowler Simieon Gerson (3-54) did the damage with the ball for the Islanders who crashed to 101
Windwards go down by 98 runs at Providence all out from 38.1 overs despite a painstaking 106-ball 38 from opener Dhanraj Cepaul who was ninth out. Umroa got prodigious turn from a slow Providence track that kept very low to capture 5-32 and got excellent support from seamer Haifa Walters (2-5). The win was a repeat of the sequence of 1998 and 1999 when Guyana won titles in Jamaica and Guyana in the competition which was first played in 1996. Last year Guyana won the title in Jamaica before winning it again yesterday. Guyana won the toss and were given a firm foundation by Williams, who reached the boundary six times in his responsible 92-ball innings and the more subdued St Clair, who hit a couple of fours in his 25 from 66 balls before he edged Mika Joseph to the Keeper in the 25th over. The left-handed Singh, who was surprisingly not selected for the Inter-County U-15 competition, joined
Williams, who was LBW to Gerson, who was not much taller than the stumps, to leave the home team on 86-2 in the 27th over. It was soon 86-3 when Gerson, who flighted the ball beautifully, trapped Alphius Bookie for a duck before Singh, who made 38 in the last match against the Leewards, and Anderson whose 37 lasted 50 balls, featured in a 77-run stand before Singh was bowled by Gerson at 1634 and Anderson followed six runs later when he was stumped off Alexander. Guyana lost their way as only National U-17 player Ashmead Nedd (14 with 2 fours) and Pradesh Bellkishun (12) reached double figures as Alexander, bowling with an action similar to his country man Shane Shillingford, ran through the Guyana lower order as Guyana slumped from 163-3 to 199-9. And with the reputation of possessing the strongest batting line-up in the tournament, the Windwards,
who had the most matches (3) at the Stadium in the middle of unseasonal rain here, they lost their first wicket on 10 and never really recovered, as Cepaul who displayed good temperament and a strange stance, watched as wickets tumbled around him. Cepaul scored just three runs from his first 62 balls and when he tried to accelerate with wickets falling like nine pins around him he got one from Umroa that kept very low to bowl him at 101-9. Only Rene Montoute (12) and Razim Elehie (11) got into double figures as Umroa, who plays for Albion in Berbice,
Left arm spinner Kelvin Umroa gets his MOM award for Selector Nazimul Drepaul after taking 5-32 against the Windwards yesterday. confused the visitors and got excellent support from all the bowlers. Guyana ended with
the most points after starting the final round five points (Continued on page 37)
Tanvir helps Pakistan secure easy T20 win over Sri Lanka
I never thought I’d take 400 test wickets, says Steyn Dale Steyn was the joint second fastest bowler to 400 Test wickets, Bangladesh v South Africa, 2nd Test, Mirpur, 1st day, July 30, 2015 ©AFP
DHAKA, (Reuters) Fast bowler Dale Steyn was delighted after becoming the second South African to reach 400 test wickets on the opening day of the second and final match against Bangladesh in Mirpur on Thursday. The world’s top-ranked test bowler brought up the milestone when he had opener Tamim Iqbal caught at first slip by Hashim Amla for six and his next target is Shaun Pollock’s national
record of 421 wickets. “I would’ve been happy if I had taken just one wicket in my international career,” Steyn told reporters after picking up three for 30 as Bangladesh ended the day on 246 for eight. “It’s enough to play and take wickets for South Africa and then I managed to get 400. I never thought that would happen ... ever in my life.” Steyn, who is as laid back off the field as he is fiery on it, said he would not dwell on
his personal landmark. “I have never been a stats person,” added the 32-yearold. “It’s nice to have these numbers but I have had a lot better moments in my cricketing career. “Winning games for my country has always been objective number one so the job’s not over yet.” Steyn bowled 16.1 overs in searing heat and on a wicket that offered little pace and bounce. “I love what I am doing right now, even if it’s in 40 degree heat and the ball is staying ankle high,” he said. “It’s not bouncing and ... it’s very slow but I would rather be here than anywhere else.” Steyn was disappointing in the 2015 Indian Premier League for Sunrisers Hyderabad but said he had benefited from spending some time away from the game. “There was a period when I actually didn’t want to have a ball in my hand, I think I just needed maybe two or three weeks off to get that love back again,” he explained. Score: Bangladesh 246 for 8 (Mushfiqur 65, Steyn 330, Duminy 3-27) v South Africa
Pakistan’s captain Shahid Afridi (2nd L) congratulates his teammates after they won their first Twenty 20 cricket match against Sri Lanka in Colombo July 30, 2015. (Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte) COLOMBO (Reuters) Pakistan continued their impressive tour of Sri Lanka by comprehensively beating the hosts by 29 runs in the first Twenty20 International of the two-match series on Thursday. Opting to bat first, the tourists, who had clinched the preceding test as well as the ODI series, posted a strong total of 175-5 with Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik contributing 46 runs each. Shahid Afridi’s team then restricted Sri Lanka to 146-7 at the R Premadasa Stadium to ensure Pakistan would not lose any of the three series on their tour of the island
nation. Set an imposing target, Sri Lanka had lost both openers by the second over and were never really in the chase. Milinda Siriwardana (35) and Dhananjaya de Silva (31), two of the four players who made their 20-over debut for Sri Lanka in this match, tried their best while Chamara Kapugedera (31) clobbered three sixes in his unbeaten 16ball blitz but it was not enough. Left-arm paceman Sohail Tanvir was the pick of the Pakistan bowlers, claiming 329, which also earned him the man-of-the-match award. After losing his opening partner Mukhtar Ahmed in the second over, Pakistan’s
Shehzad added 42 runs with Mohammad Hafeez to lay the foundation for a big total. Malik and Akmal plundered 81 runs in 7.3 overs and took Pakistan past the 150-mark which made it a difficult chase for the hosts. Akmal hit three sixes and as many boundaries in his 24ball cameo while Malik remained not out after his breezy 31-ball knock. The teams return to the same venue for the second and final Twenty20 on Saturday. Scores: Pakistan 175 for 5 (Malik 46*, U Akmal 46) beat Sri Lanka 146 for 7 (Siriwardana 35, Tanvir 329, Anwar 2-27) by 29 runs.