GUYANA are in pole position in the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional Under-15 tournament after defeating title-holders Trinidad & Tobago by four wickets in the top-of-the-table clash at the UWI, Mona field yesterday.

The Guyanese kept their unbeaten record intact by restricting Trinidad & Tobago to 171 for nine from 50 overs, and returning to surpass the target with four overs and two balls to spare in the third-round contest.

Scores: Trinidad & Tobago 171-9 (50 overs); Guyana 172-6 (45.4 overs).

Winning coach Julian Moore hailed his charges for the brave performance.

“We have not been doing well over the past years at this level, but we came this year with a mission and it was very good that the guys could come out here and not only play good cricket, but also defeat the defending champions,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Glen Dwarika, the Trinidadian coach, thought that his team was set back after losing the toss and being asked to bat on a less-than-ideal batting strip.

“The toss was important…we lost the toss and they sent us in to bat. The pitch was a bit soft this morning and it was very difficult to bat and I think that was the game there. Nevertheless, we fought hard and we got a total of 170 and I think that was good, too, because we have good bowlers, but credit to the Guyanese team,” he said.

Taking first strike, Trinidad & Tobago were never allowed to settle, with the highlights of their innings being a second-wicket partnership of 41 runs between Navin Bedaisee (21) and Kirstan Kallicharan (22), along with a fifth-wicket stand between Cephas Cooper (27) and Brandon Singh (28), which accumulated 45 runs. Leonardo Julien was left unbeaten on 23.

Ashmead Nedd (2-15) and Steven Kamaludin (2-28) were the bowling standouts for Guyana.

A 65-run second-wicket combination between Joshua Persaud (42) and Alphius Bookie (25) was the highlight of the Guyanese run-chase. Justin Gangoo and Nathaniel McDavid took two wickets each for Trinidad & Tobago.

In the game at Elletson Road, Barbados defeated Windward Islands by 16 runs.

Scores: Barbados 235-6 (50 overs); Windward Islands 219-9 (50 overs).