The McGill Superstars recorded a victory against Independence this past Saturday in the West Demerara leg of the Hand-In-Hand 50-over competition at the Cornelia Ida ground to advance to the next round.
McGill took first strike in the encounter which was reduced to 35 overs and mustered up a total of 148 losing six wickets in the process.
Mahadeo Ramotar made an unbeaten 35 in the innings and he received support from Ramesh Persaud who contributed a fitting 20 to the total while Campton Melurne grabbed 2-15 for Independence.
Independence crumbled to a 17-run defeat in the 34th over even as Kishan Shivgobin put up a tremendous amount of resistance with his well played 40 but in the end the miserly bowling of Gangaran Lochan (3-20) and Gagdesh Balgobin (3-22) proved too much for Independence. Windsor Forest, Bell West, Cultural, Leonora and Met-en-Meerzorg were the five other teams who advanced to the next round in the tournament.
Bell West trounced Evergreen in a low scoring encounter at the Zeeburg ground on Saturday. Bell West batted first and were bundled out for 130 in 25 overs but stood strong in their defense to stop Evergreen at 106 in 19 overs.
On Sunday Crane had their wings clipped by Windsor Forest in an intense battle. Crane rose to the plate and set a target of 207 after batting for 34.1 overs.
However, Windsor Forest was up to the task and reached the target, led by Ram Chetram with a solid knock of 92 they reached 207 in 34.1 overs.
Three other matches were contested on Sunday at the Canal No. Two Sports Club ground. Cultural sunk Canal No. Two in a low tally encounter. Canal No. Two batted first and could only place a score of 124 in 20.5 overs on the board with the likes of Anthony Ifill (45) and First Division campaigner Kellon Merchant (35) who occupied the batting crease.
Avinash Sookdeo was responsible for Canal No. Two’s early demise grabbing 4 – 18 from the five overs he bowled. Cultural then cruised to 125 in 17.2 overs as Sase Narine laced an unbeaten 60 while Mahaendra Pratabji picked up 2-12 for Canal No. Two.
Leonora defeated Cornelia Ida on their home turf by a 27-run margin. Led by an unbeaten half century from Prem Persaud (54) Leonora reached 128 – 8 in 30 overs while Bisram Thomas tore through Leonora’s batting line-up with 6 – 11.
Cornelia Ida stumbled to 101 in 25.3 overs, compliments of Rakesh Singh who took 5 – 15 for Leonora while Imtiaz Hack was left unbeaten on 36.
Met-en-Meerzorg advanced to the next round of the tourney after they defeated Zeeburg who scored 115 runs in their encounter batting first. In reply Met-en-Meerzorg easily surpassed the target to claim a victory.
Action continues again this weekend with four matches on Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday, September 13 Shamrock will go up against La Jalousie at Cornelia Ida ground, Uitvlugt will meet Met-en-Meerzorg East at Zeeburg ground, Malvern will challenge Lagrange United at Cultural ground and Goed Fortuin will be looking for good fortune against La Grange at Canal No. Two Sports Club ground.
Sunday, September 14 Rising Sun will try to shine against All Youths at Cornelia Ida ground, Western United will face off with Players at Wales ground, and it will also be Versailles versus Vive La Force at Cultural ground and Wales versus Belle View at Canal No. 2 Sports Club.
