BCB/Minister Mustapha Under- 15 Tournament: Baksh spins Albion to Championship honours over Port Mourant

The Berbice Cricket Board last Saturday hosted the long-awaited finals of the Zulfikar Mustapha Under-15 tournament, which commenced in late 2020 but was delayed for a number of reasons.
However, under the leadership of its President Hilbert Foster, the BCB was determined to successfully complete this tournament.
In very humid conditions and in front of a sizeable crowd, Port Mourant won the toss and elected to bat first. They received a solid opening partnership of 60 runs in 14 overs from Naven Boodwah and Devendra Samaroo.
Samaroo first was dismissed for 17, caught off the bowling of Feaz Baksh, then 33 runs later, Port Mourant were blown away for a meagre score, as their nine remaining wickets fell quickly. Baksh was the main destroyer with six wickets for thirteen runs from ten overs, while Chmesh Sewnauth had figures of 10-3-17-3.
The Port Mourant team returned the following batting figures: Navin Boodwah: 33, Vishal Williams: 07, Asgharath Nabbie: 00, Parmanand Kushlay: 01, Vikesh Roopnarine: 05, Richard Sewmangal: 00, Niten

dra Panachee: 02, Aryan Dasrat: 06 and Bhesham Etwaru: not out on 01.
Needing 94 runs from their allotted 50 overs, Albion were given a solid opening stand of 36 in nine overs by Farhan Balle and Chamesh Sewnauh, before Balle was run out for 9.
National Under-13 batsman Nathaniel Ramsammy was then stumped for 05 off the bowling of Nitendra Parchae when the score was at 41 for 2. Sewnauth was trapped LBW by D. Sammaroo with the score at 69 for 3, but levelheaded batting by Devin Lalbehari, who scored 27 not out with two sweetly timed boundaries, and Man of the Finals Feaz Baksh, who produced eight not out, led Albion to a crushing seven-wicket victory which allowed them to retain the Minister Zulfikar Mustapha Berbice Under-15 title.
Bowling for the runners-up, Devendra Samaroo and Nitendra Parachee each took a wicket, for 14 and 10 runs respectively.
BCB President Hilbert Foster has said the board was happy to play off the finals after a long delay due to reasons including the COVID pandemic.
He hailed the support his administration is receiving from the general public, spoke of Minister Mustapha’s phenomenal support of the game in his home county, and disclosed that apart from his sponsorship of the Under-15 tournament, the Minster is also a sponsor of a University of Guyana education scholarship for an under-19 player.
Chairman of the BCB Competition Committee, Leslie Soloman, hailed the finals as another successful day for the board, noted that over one hundred tournaments have been successfully completed since early 2018, and said many more are ongoing, including historic Under-11 and Under-13 inter-club tournaments.
Region 6 Vice Chairman Zamal Hussain, who represented Minister Mustapha at this engagement, congratulated Albion on a well-deserved victory and encouraged the Port Mourant players to keep themselves focused.
Hussain was full of praise for the administration of Berbice Cricket, and special mention was made of Foster, whom he described as a hardworking and dedicated cricket administrator.
The popular politician Hussain said that every time he reads the daily newspapers or watch local television, he always sees massive development taking place in Berbice Cricket.
On behalf of the Minister, Hussain encouraged the players to remain disciplined, be dedicated to the game, and he urged them to obtain an educational background.