Hillview College became the first North East Zone school to win the PowerGen Secondary Schools Cricket League (SSCL) Daren Ganga InterCol Trophy when they held their nerve to defeat Fatima College by six runs in the tournament final at Guaracara Park, Pointe-a-Pierre on Friday night.

The match came down to the wire after Hillview won the toss and recovered from 39 for four to reach 174 for eight off their 30 overs, thanks to a 62-ball 56 from Man-of-the-Match Anthony Simmons and a 40-ball 41 from Shaquille Allick.

That total seemed too much for Fatima, who were struggling at 36 for three in the fourth over of the chase. They lost skipper Brent Cameron in the third over, bowled by medium pacer Rajiv Alex Singh (2/23) for seven, followed quickly by fellow opener Imran Mustapha, caught by wicketkeeper Duane Cockburn off spinner Idrees Mohammed (1/35) for six.

Akeal Hosein then stepped in to give Fatima a glimmer of hope. He struck a chancy 80 off 56 balls to keep the game close but his teammates were unable to hold up their end long enough to bring home the victory.

Pacer Jonathan Hirst showed his batting prowess, sticking with Hosein to help Fatima recover from 99 for six. They put on 67 runs and brought their school to 166 before both fell in the final over with eight runs needed for victory.

Hirst benefited from some poor fielding from Hillview as he got to 25 from 26 balls. He was eventually run out off the first ball of the final over.

Hosein also got a helping hand from Hillview when Brandon Ramdial dropped him on 45. Hosein struck six fours during his innings before he was caught by Mohammed off the bowling of Anthony Jawahir with three balls left in the match and just six runs needed for victory.

Number nine batsman Nicholas Brown swung hard but missed all three deliveries.

Earlier, Simmons and Allick shared a vital 79-run partnership for the fourth wicket and that effectively put Hillview in control following a devastating opening spell of fast bowling from Brown (4/17). He was the best bowler on the night, taking two wickets in the fifth over as Hillview slipped to 26 for three. Isaiah Rajah was caught by Cameron for six and Cockburn was caught by Hosein for 13. Brown accounted for the first four Hillview batsmen but Fatima could not press their advantage after his six-over spell ended.

Allick rode his luck after being dropped by Kelly Rosales off Hosein for 11 but he could not escape twice, wicketkeeper Savion Lara scooping up a catch off the same bowler six expensive overs later. Jordan Sadler then stepped in, taking three for 22, including the big wicket of Simmons with four overs left in the innings, but the damage was already done.

Simmons struck three fours and two sixes before he was bowled. Stephan Gafoor then blasted two sixes in an undefeated 11-ball 17 which went a long way in setting up the victory.

Daren Ganga SSCL InterCol Final

summarised scores:

Hillview 174/8 (Anthony Simmons 56, Shaquille Allick 41; Nicholas Brown 4/17, Jordan Sadler 3/22) vs Fatima 168/8 (Akeal Hosein 80, Jonathan Hirst 25; Rajiv Alex Singh 2/23, Anthony Jawahir 2/25)

-Hillview won by 6 runs

MOM: Anthony Simmons (Hillview)

Best Batsman: Akeal Hosein (Fatima)

Best Bowler: Nicholas Brown (Fatima)