Defending champions Berbice find themselves in a must-win situation when they oppose Demerara who need a draw in the final preliminary round match of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/CLICO sponsored under-17 two-day cricket competition at the Wales Community centre ground from today. In their respective first round matches against Essequibo, Demerara had a commanding 10-wicket victory, while seepage from overnight rain along with some miscalculations from the umpires caused Berbice their game against Essequibo.
However, today’s match-up should be an exciting one with Berbice who made one change from the team that faced Essequibo, looking strong on paper against their opponents who struggled in their first innings against the Cinderella county team. The key to Berbice achieving their victory lies in the hands of national youth fast-bowler, 16-year-old Keon Joseph who looked ordinary against the Essequibians. Not taking anything away from Essequibo’s batting, but the shot of the match came from their number seven batsman Anthony Adams who on drove Joseph all along the ground for four, during his 52 runs eighth wicket partnership with Neil Ramalho. Joseph in tandem with Sharmindra Hardyal will be sharing the new ball with spin coming from the fingers of national under-15 players in left-arm spinner Trinson Carmichael and his spin twin in right arm off-spinner Jamal La Fleur who between them took seven of Essequibo’s first innings wickets.
Left-arm spinner Bisham Persaubie played against Essequibo, but was replaced for this fixture by right-arm off spinner Yogeshwar Deonarine who can add some support to the lower order batting, especially as coach Julian Moore indicated that he is looking to score within the region of 250 to 270 if asked to take first strike. The Berbice batting rests on the shoulders of captain and national under-15 opener Harrinarine Chattergoon along with his fellow under-15 members in La Fleur and Clinton Pestano. Andrew Dennis, who made his debut for Berbice against Essequibo, looked fairly comfortable with the bat during his innings, and will be expected to lend support to the top order batsmen. Jamally Odle, another national under-15 middle-order batsman came good with the bat in Berbice’s second innings with a blazing 39 ball 54 during his 66 runs fourth wicket partnership with Pestano and along with Hardyal, Carmichael and wicketkeeper/batsman Andy Mohan can help get Berbice to the total Moore requires.
But if the Demerara bowling attack led by national under-15 fast-bowler Seon Daniels and including West Indies under-15 right-arm leg spinner Amir Khan, left arm swing-bowler Andre Stoll and off-spinners Ricardo Devers and Arif Habib have a say, then such a target will definitely be a Herculean task to achieve. National under-15 captain Kwame Crosse can add some support to the bowlers with his medium pace which would help ease some of the burden off the shoulders of skipper Dexter Solomon, who has been executing his duties with the greatest of ease so far. Former national off spinner Garvin Nedd who is performing the duties of coach, did indicate prior to the commencement of this tournament that the bowling was their strength, a statement that was underscored when they bowled out Essequibo for 51 in their second innings.
But their batsmen did struggle in their first innings when they were chasing 134 for first innings points from a maximum of 65 overs and duly got there in the 62nd over, thanks mainly to the efforts of Daniels and Khan who added 11 for the ninth wicket. But the Berbice bowling attack is not as weak as Essequibo’s so the Demerara batting line-up led by openers Quincy Ovid, Kamal Ramkissoon and Shameer Fazal will have to buckle down and bat as there will be no room for inconsistency against a team like Berbice that looks strong on paper.
The middle order is in the capable hands of Solomon, Crosse, Dayanand Roopnarine, Keon Franklyn and Stoll who can handle his own on his day with the bat.
Habib, Daniels, Khan and Devers are no rabbits with the bat as they proved against Essequibo and can be expected to repeat such feats against the defending champions.
The toss is a vital factor in this encounter which commences from 10:00hrs, but however it goes, one can expect a highly contested fixture as Berbice will be looking to emulate their under-19 counterparts who needed a win to retain their GTM title earlier this year, while Demerara need to hold them to a draw.
Teams –
Demerara from: Dexter Solomon (captain), Kamal Ramkissoon, Quincy Ovid, Shameer Fazal, Dayanand Roopnarine, Arif Habib, Kwame Crosse, Keon Franklyn, Ricardo Devers, Amir Khan, Seon Daniels, Andre Stoll, Medha Dhanpaul and Kamesh Yadram.
Berbice from: Harrinarine Chattergoon (captain), Jamal La Fleur, Dominique Rikhi, Clinton Pestano, Jamally Odle, Sharmindra Hardyal, Andrew Dennis, Yogeshwar Deonarine, Verapen Permaul, Trinson Carmichael, Keon Joseph, Andy Mohan, Rafael Estriado and Maheswar Naidoo.
