The long-awaited final of the Berbice Cricket Board of Control (BCBC) Isaac Bissoon-sponsored 2007 three-day competition is set to bowl off today at the Rose Hall, Canje ground.
For the first time in the history of the competition, two teams from the Canje area will face each other in this three-day final which ends Sunday.
Young Warriors will enter the fray as favourites following their impressive showing in the preliminary rounds.
They have the most talented batting side in Berbice at least on paper, including national middle-order batsman Gajanand Singh who, along with Richard Ramdeen, had the privilege of playing for the West Indies at the youth level.
With all-rounder Paul Wintz, who has totalled over 600 runs including a double century to date in the competition, national under-19 TCL middle-order batsman Seon Hetmyer, former Berbice youth opener Farouk Hussain and his opening partner Waheid Edwards all in the lineup, Rose Hall will certainly have their work cut out for them. Backing these players in the batting department will be former national and Berbice all-rounder and national youth coach Hubern Evans along with another former Berbice all-rounder Anil Beharry.
Their bowling attack is fairly competitive led by former Berbice fast-bowler Kwesi Maltay with Wintz, Munilall Shivdyal, Singh, Evans and Hussain all capable of creating problems for their opponents.
Amidst all this, Rose Hall for their part, may not seem to be a worthy opponent for a team with the calibre of Young Warriors but the fact that they created an upset over the powerful Albion Community Centre team in their semi-final clash should be a morale booster for them.
In that game, the ever dependable Sasenarine Sukhdeo led their batting with a formidable 92 and, along with Sanjay Khan, who is a former national under-15 all-rounder, as well as former Berbice under-19 batsman Darryl Narine and Totaram Seenanan, Young Warriors should be prepared for a battle in this encounter.
Their bowling department will be centered on fast-bowler Rafik Kassim whose seven-wicket match haul was another highlight in the upset over Albion, former Berbice under-17 fast-bowler Vishal Mohabir and Keion De Jesus.
Off-spinner Romesh Munna has always been a thorn in the flesh of any batting side this year, and can be expected to continue in the same vein in this match with support from left arm spinner Sean Jhetoo.
This encounter starts at 10:30 hrs each day under the guidance of umpires Moshan Khan and Mahendra Singh with Joseph Simon as the standby. The teams are:Young Warriors from: Hubern Evans (captain), Richard Ramdeen, Anil Beharry, Farouk Hussain, Gajanand Singh, Seon Hetmyer, Ishwar Singh, Waheid Edwards, Kwesi Maltay, Munilall Shivdyal, Paul Wintz, Anildut Taejman and Linden Austin.
Rose Hall from: Romesh Munna (captain), Sanjay Khan, Darryl Narine, Vishal Mohabir, Sasenarine Sukhdeo, Rafik Kassim, Totaram Seenanan, Rocky Bipat, Sean Jhetoo, Keion De Jesus, Kevin Ramdeen, Kawal Mangal, Udesh Emrit and Shawn Satar.
