Powell
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC:
HALF-CENTURIES from captain Shazam Babwah, Tishan Maraj and Sherwin Ganga helped the South post a respectable score against the North in the Gerry Gomez Memorial Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Classic yesterday.
Choosing to bat, the South were 271 for nine when stumps were drawn on the opening day at Queen's Park Oval after their batting badly fell away after a century opening stand between Maraj and Ganga.
Dwayne Bravo, who continues to show that he has some pretensions to becoming a genuine all-rounder, led the North's bowling with three wickets for 74 runs from 16 overs.
Ricardo Powell, the Jamaica-born West Indies player looking to play for T&T, with two for 19 from 12 overs, and Reyad Emrit took two for 35 from 16 overs.
Maraj, a member of the Young West Indies team preparing for the ICC Youth World Cup 2004 in Bangladesh next month, hit eight fours in 65 from 171 balls in just over 3-1/2 hours and Ganga, younger brother of West Indies opening batsman Daren Ganga, had seven fours in 55 from 123 balls in 3-1/4 hours.
After Maraj and Ganga posted 131 for the first wicket, there was little substance or stability from the rest of the South batting except Babwah, whose 69 from 85 balls in 2-1/4 hours with 11 fours and one six was the top score.
The Gerry Gomez Classic, traditionally known as the North/South Classic, is the final preparation for players looking to represent T&T in the West Indies first-class championship.
The T&T selectors are expected to announce the side for the opening match of the Carib Beer 2004 Series against Leeward Islands at Pointe-A-Pierre after the Classic.
