All-rounder slams century; bags match haul of 8-60
By Calvin Roberts
Buoyed by their resounding victory over defending champions Demerara in their first round encounter, Essequibo took on Berbice in their second round match of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/ GTM sponsored Under-19 Inter County three day competition at the Police Sports Club (PSC) ground hoping for a similar result but fell to a miserable innings and 228-run defeat.
Asked to take first strike on a fast wicket that had some preparation moisture inside the first two hours of play, the Cinderella County team were dismissed for a paltry 43 in their first innings with Qyanna Sampson (15) and Parmeshwar Neel (13) being the principal scorers.
Stephen Latcha (3-14), Keon Joseph (3-14) and Jonathan Foo (2-5) were the principal wicket-takers for Berbice who then made 383-8 declared when they took to the crease.
Foo returned to hit a masterly 114 that was decorated with nine fours and two sixes from the 206 balls he faced.
Alex Amsterdam offered good support to Foo before falling six short of what would have been a well deserved century whilst Royston Alkins continued his good showing with the ball, claiming 3-82 for Essequibo.
Skipper Royan Fredericks took 2-50 in support to Alkins.
In their second turn at the wicket, the Essequibians fared a little better before being bowled out for 112.
Only Dellon Heyliger 32 (7×4) and Ravindra Parsram, who struck an unbeaten 21, offered resistance to Foo who claimed 6-55 to complete a fine all-round performance.
He received support from Eugene La Fleur who chipped in with 2-8.
In an invited comment, coach of the victorious Ancient County team Adrian Amsterdam, told Stabroek Sport that he was elated with the victory taking into consideration that the Essequibians were on a high following their victory over defending champions Demerara in the first round.
“We knew they were over-confident following their triumph over Demerara, but we also knew that they are susceptible to spin bowling and decided to throw it at them.
“Our bowlers did well to restrict them in the first innings and our batsmen capitalized on same.
“Kudos to Foo and Amsterdam on their innings which helped to put us in a more formidable position to force the victory early.
“Our bowlers also continued to attack their batsmen ensuring that the stranglehold we had was not loosened.”
Meanwhile, Essequibo’s coach Alfred Maycock blamed his batsmen for the lack of application they displayed in both of their innings despite the fact that the wicket was a quick one on the first day.
“The toss was vital to our innings, but our batsmen definitely lacked discipline and application in both of our innings. Even though the wicket was fast on the first day due to preparation moisture inside of it, and the Berbice bowlers bowled a tight line and length, our batsmen still failed to apply themselves,” Maycock stated.
He added:“We thought about having a go at them with the bowling, but the total we were defending was too meagre and the pitch began to dry out much to the benefit of their batsmen.
“Having said that, we still have the limited overs title to contend for and we intend to do that with a renewed fighting spirit similar to the one we displayed against Demerara in the first round.”
Berbice and Demerara will square off in the final match of the three day competition with the Berbicians needing only a draw to reclaim the title they lost to their opponents last year.
Should Demerara come away with an outright victory, they will retain the title depending on the margin of that victory.
