Persistent rainfall Thursday was not enough to damp the spirits of the players from Diamond and Friendship Secondary Schools as they battled
to a draw in one of the most electrifying matches in the Regional Democratic Council (RDC)/ Lloyd Britton/ Devcon Construction/ Regional Executive Officer (REO) Region Four Inter-Secondary School Knockout competition.
The match, played at the Everest Cricket Club ground, Camp Road, saw only seven overs-a-side possible and Diamond, sent in to bat, scored 62 which the Friendship team equaled.
Such was the enthusiasm and determination of the players that they assisted with the mopping up of the ground, after collecting buckets and sponges from the groundsmen to soak up the water around the field, working hand in hand and building friendships just to have the match played.
Their hard work was rewarded with a 14-over match.
Diamond, batting first, scored 10 runs in their first over and raced to 23 before Mark Fredericks was bowled by Jeremiah Benjamin.
National Youth Player, Mavindra Dindyal was out to a brilliant return catch by pacer, Rondell Kattow who broke his thumb in the process and had to be rushed to the hospital.
The 13-year-old batsman top scored with 21 with two fours.
Skipper, Philip McTurk fell the very next delivery while Anil Singh departed in the same over as Diamond closed on 62-4.
In reply, McTurk was slapped for 14 runs in his first over but Krsna Singh brought Diamond back into the contest with a two- over spell in which he took 4-19. Adrian Lim blasted two sixes, one into the media center roof and the other into the parking lot, capitalizing on being dropped to make 24 from 17 balls eventually being caught by wicketkeeper Dindyal. Diamond ended the tournament with 28 points while Friendship secured 26 points.
Friendship will now battle for the third place prize on Monday while Diamond will play Annandale in the final on Wednesday.
