Mere hours after their Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) Premiership I 50-over final was abandoned due to rain, Central Sports blazed their way into the final of the Amplia Chaguanas Mayor's T10 tournament at the Pierre Road recreation ground, Charlieville on May 25.
Playing against Prisons in the first semifinal, the experienced Central Sports team flexed their muscles as they got a dominant nine-wicket win. Batting first, Prisons got a modest 93 for six, with Adrian Cooper (27 off 19 balls) and Kyle Roopchand (24 off 16 balls) leading the way with their 43-run stand for the second wicket.
Veteran seamer Marlon Richards grabbed figures of two for 11 for Central Sports, while Akshaya Persaud led the attack with figures of two for nine and grabbed the scalps of Cooper and Roopchand in consecutive overs.
In the chase, Central Sports were ruthless and they raced to the 97 for one with ten balls to spare. TT Red Force veteran Imran Khan continued his fine form atop the order, and he hit an unbeaten 30 off 25 balls, while the aggressive pair of Kamil Pooran (29 off 11 balls) and Kjorn Ottley (24 not out off 14 balls) also played key knocks.
Khan and Pooran saw Central Sports past the 50-run mark after four overs, before the left-handed Ottley opened up his arms with two fours and two sixes in a breezy cameo to take his team home in style.
The second semi was a tense, low-scoring affair, and Charlieville Super Kings (CSK) advanced to the final after defeating the previously unbeaten Police team by six runs.
CSK tallied 75 for seven, with solid knocks from Nathaniel McDavid (21) and Nashawn Latchman (20). Three Police bowlers took two wickets apiece, including Red Force speedster Anderson Phillip who grabbed figures of two for 16 – accounting for opener Isaiah Rajah (one) in the first over of the game.
[caption id="attachment_1085932" align="alignnone" width="768"] Charlieville Super Kings' Abdur Rahman Juman receives the Man of the Match award after his team's semifinal win against Police in the 2024 Amplia Chaguanas Mayor's T10 Cup on May 25. - Photo courtesy Amplia[/caption]
Police had a quite stuttering chase, and they were restricted to 69 for seven after some miserly bowling by the CSK outfit. Christopher Vincent conceded just six runs from his two-over spell, while Kissoondath Magram (two for 16) stalled the chase as he scooped up the wickets of top-scorers Shatrughan Rambaran (18) and Antonio Gomez (16) in consecutive overs.
With Police needing 17 runs off the last over, Abdur Rahman Juman (two for nine) held his nerve to bowl CSK to the win after getting wickets with his first two deliveries.
On May 19, CSK opened up the tournament with a stunning nine-wicket win against Central Sports. After press time on May 26, they attempted to stop the TTCB's 2024 Premiership I National League and Twenty/20 Festival champions once more.
Summarised Scores:
Prisons – 93/6 (Adrian Cooper 27, Kyle Roopchand 24; Akshaya Persaud 2/9) vs Central Sports – 97/1 from 8.2 overs (Imran Khan 30 not out, K
