Berbice’ strangle hold on youth cricket in Guyana was broken yesterday when they lost the Guyana Cricket Board/Castrol sponsored Under-15 Inter county limited overs cricket competition by seven wickets at the National Stadium, Providence yesterday.
After they won the toss and opted to take first strike, Berbice were dismissed for 80 from 33.4 overs with Amir Khan being amongst the wickets once again taking 3-14 and then watched haplessly as Demerara led by their captain Kwame Crosse (24*) and Jahron Byron (20*) reached 84-3 from 33.2 overs to take the title after nine years.
The defending champions found themselves in an early spot of bother when they lost Dominique Ricky via the run out route off the first delivery of the day. In the second over Jamal La Fleur was bowled by Crosse as he attempted to drive at a delivery that was too close to his body.
When their captain Jamally Odle lost his wicket to Yogindra Dass for eight and Clinton Pestano was caught by Crosse at mid off, off left arm orthodox spinner Raj Nanan for nine, the Berbicians were tottering on 39-4 in the 11th over with the cream of their batting back in the pavilion.
Although Veerapen Permaul who top scored with 14 tried desperately to repair the damage as the wickets were tumbling at the other end, the Demerara bowlers wanted no part in such and sent him back three runs later after dismissal of Pestano.
With half the side being back in the pavilion for a mere 42 runs from 15.2 overs they were staring down the barrel of defeat as they gifted their wickets away with some poor shot selection as they struggled to get runs against the all spin attack employed by Crosse.
Lloydel Lewis and wicketkeeper batsman Andy Mohan tried to repair the damage in a 16 run partnership from 5.3 overs before they both departed with Lewis being dismissed caught by Crosse at short midwicket off Nanan for six and Mohan (8) bowled by Khan as he too attempted to drive at a delivery that pitched and left him at 58-7.
It was only a matter of time before Demerara wrapped up the innings and unfortunately for the team from the Ancient County, Khan was the man to do such when he had the diminutive Gudakesh Khani Moti given out lbw to end with 3-14 from 8.4 overs to follow up on his five wicket haul against Essequibo.
He received support from Nanan who took 2-21 from his eight overs whilst there was a wicket each for Jagdesh Bishun (1-0), Chanderpaul Hemraj (1-3), Dass (1-14) and Crosse 1-27.
When Demerara began their reply, they too found themselves in an early spot of bother following the demise of the inform Alex Ramalho who was run out in the fourth over of their innings. He had played a delivery to a wide extra cover position and set off for certain and safe single, but his opening partner Brian Sattaur failed to respond and Ramalho in his attempt to get back could not beat the throw.
Sattaur was guilty of refusing single even when the ball was played away from the fieldsman, something that does not augurs well for such a young batsman who has lots of potential. Sattaur was joined by Dayanand Roopnarine and they posted 17 runs for the second wicket before Sattaur went courtesy of a magnificent catch by Lionel Lewis off La Fleur for nine at 20-2.
The Demerara team went to the lunch break at 27-2 from 15 overs with Roopnarine on eighty and Byron on four. They lost Roopnarine shortly after the resumption when he went courtesy of a running catch by La Fleur off Moti for 12 after hitting the bowler for four through extra cover two deliveries earlier.
That was to be the last success for the Berbicians as Crosse and Byron batted sensibly along with some timely running between the wickets. They mixed aggression with sound defence as they inched closer to the target ensuring that their bowlers’ efforts did not go in vain in the process.
Byron did survived a chance at point when he was on 17 after pushing hard at a delivery from Odle to Hardyal who failed to hold on to the offer. Crosse came into his own with two sweetly timed drives for fours all along the ground off the bowling of Shawn Pereira.
Byron got into the act and showed that he can drive too with a sweetly timed shot through extra cover also off Pereira. The end came when Mohan failed to hold onto a wide delivery from Odle and the ball trickled into the boundary to spark off celebrations in the dressing room of the new champions. Motie (1-17) and La Fleur (1-20) were the wicket takers for the Berbicians.
Coach Clive Grimmond in his first year with the team was high in praise for his team who played unbeaten through out the competition.
“I must say that this bunch of young cricketers set out from the start of this tournament to win the trophy after coming close last year. We had a more balanced team this year and our bowlers set up the game for us especially Khan and Nanan who both played their hearts out for the team. We were looking at restricting them to 120, but after having them on the ropes early on in their innings, we did not let up and came out successful with an easy victory in the end.”
His opposite counterpart Andre Percival was disappointed at the loss, but promise to bounce back next year.
“We did not play to our game plan and our frontline batsmen gifted their wicket away with some poor shot selection which hampered us from scoring enough runs. Our bowlers did make a fight out of it as they were no room for errors with such a small total. Congrats to Demerara, but we will be rebounding next year.”
At the simple presentation ceremony that followed, vice president of the GCB Malcolm Peters congratulated the winners and warned them not to become complacent as Berbice will be back to reclaim the title next year, whilst urging all the players to train hard to maintain their fitness at this level.
“Even though you are the champions, do not become too complacent as the Berbicians will be back for their title next year. To those of you who did not make your team this year, I urge you to train hard maintaining your fitness so that when you are called, you will be in the best of condition to perform.”
Castrol brand manager Leonard Khan also notified the gathering that his company would continue their relationship with the GHCB in the future as they have enjoyed such a good working relationship with the Board over the years gone by.