West Indies Under-15 cricketers beat Pakistan by 89 runs in the Final of the Group Phase of the CLICO International Under-15 tournament. The win gave the hosts an element of revenge for a 2-run defeat in the Final of the Knockout competition that opened this overall celebration of international youth cricket. Bangladesh came third, ahead of Malaysia, late replacements for Zimbabwe.

West Indies opening batsmen Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell gave the hosts the customary solid start with a stand of 66 runs. Campbell was then out for 37. Ramon Senior entered the fray and added 85 runs with Brathwaite for the second wicket. Brathwaite was eventually run out for 82 runs. This took his scoring tally to 538 runs from 8 innings. He was not out in 3 innings and the most consistent batsman of the tournament. Leg-spinner Usman Qadir took 3 wickets for 25 runs from his 10 overs.

Pakistan lost a first wicket before scoring and only Muhammad Babar of the front order batsmen made any runs. Babar made 51, but only three other lower-order batsmen made double-figures as Pakistan was bowled out for 139 runs. Qadir’s 21 runs was the next best innings. Senior followed his fifty with the bat by taking 4 wickets for 24 runs in 10 overs.

So just over one year after Cricket World Cup 2007, many youngsters with aspirations to reach a future World Cup have taken part in a tournament that visited five Caribbean countries. It will be interesting to see which, if any, of these players make it to the big stage. Clearly Kraigg Brathwaite has taken the eye. Babar hit the highest individual score of the tournament, with 165 runs against ICC Americas Development XI, as well as making a half-century in this final and several spin bowlers were among the wickets.