Ramlakhan, bowlers lead Enmore to SPR 40-over title

By Avenash Ramzan

A solid half-century from Vishwanauth Ramlakhan and tight bowling from spinners Yuvraj Dyal and Christopher Surat led Enmore to victory over Lusignan A in the final of the 2019 SPR Enterprise 40-over competition on Sunday.

Watched on by a fair-sized and vocal crowd at the Enmore Community Centre, the home side stoutly defended 186, dismissing defending champions Lusignan A for 143, despite a fighting knock from former national player Krishna Deosaran.

Batting first, Enmore were in some early trouble, losing wickets regularly in the middle overs, as Rajpaul Basdeo produced a fine bowling effort.

Skipper Bheemraj Ramkelawan (11) and fellow opener Imran Hassan (19) were dismissed cheaply, before Basdeo dealt a double blow, removing First-Class player Amir Khan and Rudolph Singh, both without scoring.

National youth player Chaitram Balgobin stuck around for 18, but once again Basdeo struck. Rajendra Naikbarran them removed Surat for six and Basdeo completed a five-fer by capturing the wickets of Dyal (03) and Navindra Gobin (05) in quick succession.

All the while, Ramlakhan, who batted at three, kept a steady head and found an able partner in Ranjeet Hiralall as they batted the home side to a respectable score.

Ramlakhan, the diminutive right-hander, struck four fours and two sixes in a topscore of 67, while Hiralall, batting at number 10, struck a solitary boundary in his crucial 27. Basdeo finished with 5-20 off eight overs and Naikbarran 2-28 for Lusignan A.

Despite a fine 69 (2x4s, 3x6s) from the left-handed Deosaran, Lusignan A fell short, as opener Steve Ramdass was the only other batsman to reach 20.

Off-spinner Dyal was the pick of the bowlers with 4-29 from eight overs, while former national youth player Surat had 3-20 off 6.4 overs, including the prized scalp of Deosaran. Khan (1-21), Singh (1-7) and Satesh Jainarine (1-43) were also among the wickets for the champions.

Enmore skipper Ramkelawan reflected on the win, noting that he felt they had enough runs, despite the early wobble. He lauded Ramlakhan for his Man-of-the-Match knock and commended the bowlers for keeping a tight rein on the visiting batsmen.

Now that the 2019 competition has concluded, the 2020 tournament will commence shortly.