In last year’s Inter-County limited overs tournament, Demerara lost their first round game to Berbice at the Blairmont Community Centre round but they rebounded to defeat the Berbicians in the final of the same tournament at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
That scenario could very well repeat itself today when Leon Johnson leads his side out on the field in the first day/night cricket match to be held in Guyana at the same venue after Demerara lost their second round encounter against Berbice at Blairmont last Saturday.
Johnson told Stabroek Sport that his men are ready and raring to go and will definitely be looking to emulate last year’s performance in today’s final.
“I expect us to do well in this encounter which means improvements must be made from the last time we met. In that game, we did not play positive cricket especially with our running in between the wickets after batting first.”
The teams have had contrasting victories over Essequibo in the preliminaries with Demerara defeating the Cinderella County side by 83 runs while Berbice pulled off a three-wicket victory with one ball to spare.
So does Demerara have the fire power to turn back the challenge of the star studded Ancient County team which is filled with past and present national players?
That answer will be known today.
Even though his lineup would not be as strong as their opponents on paper, Johnson is looking for a combined team effort to pull off what he himself termed a “revenge victory.”
“As the defending champions, having lost to them in the preliminaries was an eye opener for us and we will definitely be looking to avenge that loss when we face them tomorrow (today) at the National Stadium,” he said.
In order to achieve his aim of lifting the trophy tonight, Johnson would be hoping that his openers both Rajendra Chandrika and national all rounder Christopher Barnwell give the side a good start on which the middle order, led by Johnson himself and including former West Indies under-19 vice captain Steven Jacobs, Krishna Deosarran, Ravi Sarwan and all rounders Orin Forde and Dion Ferrier can build on against a strong Berbice bowling attack.
Chandrika, who also represented Guyana at the youth level and Barnwell, have recorded half centuries against Essequibo and Berbice respectively but their opening partnership in the last two innings were 61 in 13.5 overs against Essequibo and 43 from the same number of overs against Berbice.
In both games it took the courageous efforts of Johnson, who added 65 with Chandrika against Essequibo and 42 with Barnwell (Berbice), along with Deosarran, a former national youth player and Sarwan, to add respectability to the totals.
With national off-spinner Zaheer Mohammed, former national youth all rounder Kellon Carmichael, wicket-keeper Joseph Perry and Sauid Drepaul all capable of handling themselves with the bat, Demerara can post a challengeable total for their bowlers to defend.
It would be interesting to see the bowling line-up employed by Narsingh Deonarine for this encounter as he has a lot of experienced bowlers to choose from.
Esaun Crandon and Brendon Bess are national fast bowlers and, along with Paul Wintz, have proven to be effective with the new ball especially during the power plays.
And with the likes of regional record-holder Mahendra Nagamootoo and national spin twins Veerasammy Permaul and Devendra Bishoo along with Deonarine himself who has been the best bowler in the tournament so far with 5-46 from 18 overs, the Demerara batting line will have its work cut out.
And, although Barnwell, Carmichael, Mohammed, Ferrier and Drepaul contained the relatively uncompetitive Essequibo side they were as gentle as doves against the Berbicians.
Even though Guyana West Indies opener Sewnarine Chattergoon was dismissed in the sixth over, national players Royston Crandon (opener) and Deonarine (middle order) added 63 runs for the second wicket from 15 overs while Fudadin and Deonarine added a further 72 runs for the third wicket to see Berbice home comfortably.
Berbice can also call upon the likes of Homchand Pooran, Ranga Lachigadoo and Delbert Hicks who along with Esaun Crandon are all capable batsmen.
Add Nagamootoo, Bishoo and to a lesser extent Permaul and Bess and an exciting encounter is forecast for the day/night encounter.
With play starting at 15:00hrs the toss may be a vital component in this game that is being played under lights for the first time at a venue that has already hosted three football games under floodlights.
Whichever way the coin goes, cricket fans can expect a treat and with an entrance fee of only $500 along with children under-12 and car parking being free, the Guyana National Stadium should be packed for Guyana’s first day/night cricket match. Team Demerara from: Leon Johnson, Zaheer Mohammed, Rajendra Chandrika, Steven Jacobs, Christopher Barnwell, Ravi Sarwan, Krishna Deosarran, Orin Forde, Dion Ferrier, Sauid Drepaul, Kellon Carmichael, Joseph Perry, Dion Carew and Shemroy Barrington.
Team Berbice from: Narsingh Deonarine, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Royston Crandon, Esaun Crandon, Delbert Hicks, Assad Fudadin, Gajanand Singh, Paul Wintz, Ranga Lachigadoo, Devendra Bishoo, Veerasammy Permaul, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Homchand Pooran and Brendon Bess.
