-defeats Scottsburg United by 41 runs in final
A pugnacious innings from opener Farouk Hussein ensured Young Warriors came out victorious in the final of the Corriverton Town Day 20/20 cricket match, when they defeated Scottsburg United by 41 runs at the Scottsburg United ground on Sunday.
Being asked to take first strike by their host, Young Warriors on the back of Hussein’s 48 (5×4; 3×6) and Ishwar Singh 25 (1×4; 2×6), scored 149-9 from their 20 overs against the bowling of Sherwin Murray and Alex Amsterdam who took two wickets each for 17 and 22 runs respectively.
At their turn at the wicket, a weakened Scottsburg United who were without the services of Essequibo’s left arm orthodox spin bowler Robert Moore, national under-19 wicketkeeper/batsman Anthony Bramble and Michael Kendall, were held to 108-5 with Murray returning to lead the way with the bat with 45 (4×6; 2×4) while Amsterdam made an unbeaten 23 (1×6) against the bowling of left arm fast bowler Derrick Ramoutar 2-9.
Earlier, Scottsburg United had turned back the challenge of Rose Hall Canje in the lone semifinal of the three-team competition which was used as an opener for the Corriverton Town Day month of activities, defeating them by six wickets despite an all round performance from Sasenarine Sookdeo (52 and 2-23).
But it was the final which had the spectators on their feet with each ball bowled, from the first one to the last, as both Hussein and Murray ensured the crowd was entertained during their stay at the wicket for their respective teams. Young Warriors were asked to take first strike, and found themselves in an early spot of bother when they lost former Guyana and West Indies under-19 opener Richard Ramdeen who added 30 for the first wicket with Hussein from 3.4 overs, for 4.
Hussein took the fight to the home team bowlers by hitting skipper James Hart over mid on for four while new batsman Waheid Edwards (07) struck Junior Mc Almont over backward square leg for six in the fifth over while Hussein hit the same bowler over mid off for four to raise the 50 at the end of the fifth over. But Hussein lost Edwards who was bowled off Amsterdam’s first delivery of the sixth over and he also got an outside edge which flew to the third man boundary for four and helped to push the score to 62-2 after six overs, before he too was sent back by Amsterdam off the first ball of the seventh over at 66-3 for his innings of 48. Young Warriors slipped to 81-5 in the 10th over as they lost the wickets of national under-19 all rounder Seon Hetmyer (05) and R. Kassim (03) and when Berbice all rounder Paul Wintz was bowled by Murray for 15, they were 95-6 in the 12th over.
But Ishwar Singh (25 2×6; 1×4) the younger brother of national middle order batsman Gajanand Singh, ensured the lower order stuck it out to add 54 valuable runs for Young Warriors by hitting Hart and Boojram Sukhdeo back over their heads for sixes before being the ninth wicket to fall at 144 when he was bowled by Sukhdeo the very next ball after hitting him for six in the penultimate over.
Hart came in for some rough treatment from the opposition batsmen, ending with 2-51 from his four overs as C. Singh struck the final delivery of Young Warriors’ innings bowled by him, over wide mid wicket for six to carry his team to 149-9 from their 20 overs.
When Scottsburg began their reply, they were in an early trouble, losing the wickets of Clarence Beresford (01) and Mc Almont (00), who were both bowled by Wintz (1-12) and Ramoutar (2-9) respectively, to be 4-2 after two overs. Peter Grimes (07) added 18 for the third wicket with Calvin Cort (13), with Grimes hitting the first boundary of Scottsburg’s innings when he flicked Hetmyer off his legs for four to fine leg, before being bowled by Ramoutar. Murray joined his younger sibling Cort and opened his account with an injudicious hit over long on off the bowling of Hetmyer, before Cort was run out when he ended up at the same end with Murray. Amsterdam joined Murray and the two posted 59 runs for the fifth wicket from 5.5 overs with some robust hitting as they attempted to help Scottsburg achieve an unlikely come from behind victory.
Murray was in a no nonsense mood, hitting off spinner Balram Samaroo back along the ground twice for fours, whilst Hetmyer was hit over long off for six which carried the score to 60-4 in the 13th over. Amsterdam joined the run scoring party, by hitting Ramdeen (1-27) first ball of the 15th over for six.
Murray also took a licking to Ramdeen, hitting him twice over backward square leg for sixes in separate overs, with the last one pushing the score to 94-5 before he was caught by Hetmyer on the cover boundary immediately after in the 17th over for his entertaining innings of 45. The task of scoring over 55 runs from 18 balls against the bowling of Hussein and Samaroo proved to be a Herculean one for both Amsterdam and Hart (07*) and at the end of their 20 overs Scottsburg United were held to 108-5, much to the disappointment of the home crowd who came out in their hundreds to offer vociferous support to their team, as Young warriors took home the first prize of $30,000. In the first game, Rose Hall Canje who are known for creating upsets could have done so against the host team, after scoring 124-5 from their 20 overs with Sasenarine Sookdeo leading the way with 52 (3×6; 2×4). He received support from Ravi Beepat who made 36 (6×4; 1×6), against the bowling of Boojram Sukhdeo who took 2-27 from his four overs for Scottsburg.
In reply, Scottsburg scored 126-4 from 18.5 overs after being 107-4 in the 16th over. Amsterdam led the way with 27 (1×6; 1×4) whilst Beresford 24 (2×4) and Jermaine Reid 23 (2×4) offered support.
Needing to score at a run-a-ball from the last three overs to see their team home, siblings Cort with an unbeaten 13 that was decorated with one four and one six and Murray whose unbeaten 12 included two fours, guided their team to victory, with Murray’s last four sealing the win as Sookdeo returned to claim 2-23 for Rose Hall Canje.
