The Friendship Ground in Barbados was the venue for NY Tri-State’s best performance so far

Combermere 138 all out (40.0 Ov)
NY Tri-State Youth 141-2 (28.1 Ov)

NY Tri-State Youth won by 8 wickets

An oustanding 60 by opener Danish Dinesh steered the NY Tri-State Youths to the top of Group B and a place in the Sir Garfield Sobers U19 Tournament semi-final. They entered the game equal top with local side Combermere with the prize of progress to the play-off rounds at stake.

Combermere were a side on top form, having won their last match by ten wickets.

The 138 set by the Barbadians was probably par for a slow outfield with a short boundary. To the surprise of many, NY Tri-State Youth surpassed that total with 71 balls to spare and eight wickets in hand.

“Adams and Dinesh put on 63 for the first wicket.

With the previous match having finished with an unbeaten partnership of 53, NY Tri-State had now scored 116 runs without losing a wicket.”

Combermere began their innings well. The excellent all rounder Jahidi Hinds and Vicram Dhanraj put on a solid 32 for the first wicket but thereafter three more fell for just ten runs after captain Ekansh Rastogi caught Dhanraj (20) off the bowling of Dave Mohabir.

But any idea of a total collapse was swatted away by Antwan McCombie (12) who dug in while he and Hinds put on 46 for the fifth wicket.

There were 12 overs and a ball left when Sachin Lakhan caught him to give Jayden Dowlin his first wicket. Two became three when HInds was eventually dismissed for an excellent 45 off 92 balls, with one 4 and three 6s.

Rags Prabhune caught Enrico Browne shortly after for Dowling’s third wicket

The bowling tightened up and the Barbadians could only muster 50 runs off the last 73 balls, a poorish rate for the closing stages of a 40 over game.

Saatvik Kailash, Sachin Lakhan and Rastogi wrapped up the tail with the innings going to the very last ball as Combermere commendably used up every delivery.

Dave Mohabir was the pick of the bowlers with 2-18 off his full allotment of eight overs.

With 139 to win, the odds looked pretty even. But openers Dinesh and Shiloh Adams settled in and managed to fend off a fairly fearsome Hinds who was now opening the bowling.

Adams was playing his natural game but he showed how much he had learned with a far better selection of which balls to leave. He kept the scoring rate high as he and Dinesh saw off the opening bowlers.

They put on 63 for the first wicket. With the previous match having finished with an unbeaten partnership of 53, NY Tri-State had now scored 116 runs for the loss of no wickets.

Even more impressively, that 63 used up just 14.2 overs, leaving the rest of the side to score 76 more runs in 25.4, a strike rate just below three per over.

Aarav Chopra arrived at the crease and he steered the side even closer to the target with a third consecutive 50 partnership by the time Antwan McCombie bowled Dinesh for 60.

With nine 4s and two 6s, the opener had scored that 60 in just 66 balls and occupied the crease for two minutes short of two hours. Chopra and Ajay Prithiviraj knocked off another 19 in just 24 balls to secure an impressive victory for the American side.

They return to the Windward Cricket Ground and will face the National Sports Council (NSC) U17s. The Hills Cricket Academy from Australia face Christchurch Foundation School in the other semi final.

NSC U17 side have won all five games. Hills Academy beat PowerGen Penal by 77 runs and overtook Queens College who had won all four matches hitherto but surprisingly fell to Harrison College who had lost every match.

So NY Tri-State will have to beat an unbeaten side to reach the final and there, they may meet the only other foreign side, the Australians. The final will be at the Kensington Oval.