Cricket action continued on Sunday, May 12, at Bartica in Region Seven when the La Grange All Stars cricket team played a one-off T20 match against their hosts, Bartica’s Rising Stars cricket club, at the Bartica Secondary School ground, and suffered a 68-run defeat in this enterprise.
The victorious Rising Stars team
La Grange won the toss and, expecting to dominate the opposition on a sticky wicket, decided to bowl. Rising Stars lost their skipper, opening batsman Elroy Fernandes, without the scoreboard ticking; but the in-form Travis Cato and Shaquille Brisport, playing their natural game, frustrated the La Grange bowlers to the point where they had them spraying the ball all over the place.
The Cato-Brisport partnership changed the fortunes of the Rising Stars to the extent that the team was able to register a score of 228-7 in their 20 overs; with Cato top-scoring with 73 runs, which included eight maximums and two boundaries, while Brisport supported with 60 runs, consisting of five towering sixes and four classy boundaries. Anthony Smith pitched in with 32, and Shane Persaud with 25 to help the Stars to this mammoth total.
Zaheer Khan and Amir were the main bowlers for La Grange, each taking two wickets.
In reply, La Grange were bowled out for 156, with Dev Seepersad top-scoring with 37 and Zaheer Khan chipping in with 28.
Bowling for Rising Stars, Marvin Cheong bagged 3-30 in 4 overs, while Robin Singh took 3-34.
