National limited overs club champions Young Warriors Cricket Club (YWCC) suffered a nine-wicket whipping at the hands of Albion Sports Club when the two clashed in the final of the Berbice Cricket Board of Control (BCBC)/TENELEC INC-sponsored 2007 first division limited overs final at the Albion Community Centre ground on Sunday.
Winning the toss and opting to take first strike, YWCC who defeated Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) by two wickets in the final of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/Neal and Massy-sponsored final less than 48 hours ago, recovered from 41-5 in the 16th over, to be bowled out for 177 from 49.2 overs, to which Albion replied with 179-1 from 29.4 overs.
Man-of-the-match and West Indies opening batsman Sewnarine Chattergoon (3-32) along with Doodnauth Lallbeharry (2-21) and Narsingh Deonarine (2-40) did the damage to YWCC’s batting with the ball, with Chattergoon starting the slide with a magnificent return catch to remove Richard Ramdeen (04) at 11-1.
He then bowled Waheid Edwards (19) and when Paul Wintz and the dangerous Farouk Hussein, who surprisingly was not used as an opener went without scoring, YWCC found themselves shakily placed on 30-4, which became 41-5 in the 16th over, following the demise of Rudolph Baker for three.
National under-19 middle order batsman Seon Hetmyer (55) and Ishwar Singh (30) then added 81 for the sixth wicket from 18 overs, sharing six fours equally between them before they fell within five runs of each other and when national under-19 coach and former national all rounder Hubern Evans departed for 11 at 136-8, no one thought YWCC would get past the 150 mark.
But they managed to do so before being bowled out for their eventual total, to which Chattergoon (70*) and Lallbeharry (74) added 146 for the first wicket from 23 overs when Albion began their reply, with some injudicious shots especially off the fast bowlers.
Pacer Kwesi Maltay who can deem himself unlucky not to have represented Berbice in the recently concluded Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/El Dorado-sponsored limited overs Inter-county competition, was in for a rough time from Chattergoon who took three fours off his fourth over.
Lallbeharry who was given a chance by Edwards at long off when he attempted to hit Hussein out the ground took a liking to Evans when he hit him over mid off and all along the ground for fours, followed by a six over long on and a four through forward square in successive overs.
But just when they looked set to see their team through to a much more comfortable victory, Lallbeharry again attempted to hit Hussein out the ground and was bowled for his top score of 74, which was decorated with nine fours and a six struck off Evans.
Deonarine (19*) joined Chattergoon who celebrated his call up to the West Indies team for their tours to Abu Dhabi and New Zealand, by hitting nine fours during his unbeaten innings of 70 and together with Deonarine himself, a former West Indies middle order batsman, saw their team home with the latter hitting Hussein all along the ground to seal the win.
In an invited comment after the game, YWCC captain Paul Wintz told Stabroek Sport that poor batting from his top order led to their downfall in the match.
“Our batting display was poor. The start we were normally getting from our openers was not there and this has been the scenario for the past two to three games. Everyone knows a good start is a solid foundation and with the absence of Gajanand Singh and Balram Samaroo in the lineup, our start was definitely not what we were looking for.”
His counterpart Sewnarine Chattergoon complimented his bowlers for setting them on the back foot early in their innings, which laid the foundation for their win.
“I must say thanks to the bowlers for the way they performed today. They rocked their batting lineup early in their innings to leave them on 41-5 and even though we became complacent during the sixth wicket partnership between Hetmyer and Singh, I still think that we did a good job to come out victorious today.”
At the presentation ceremony that followed, Chattergoon received $10,000 and a trophy for being adjudged the man-of-the-match, while Albion took home the first place prize of $100,000 and a trophy, leaving YWCC to settle for the second place prize of $50,000.
Other individual prize winners throughout the competition were Evans who took home prizes for having the best bowling figures, bowler with the most wickets in zone A and the most wickets overall in the competition.
National under-19 all rounder Jonathan Foo and Hussein were also rewarded for their semi-final innings of 79 and 60 respectively for their clubs Albion and YWCC respectively, while Wintz (3-10) and Ravindranauth (4-15) received prizes for having the best figures in their team’s semi-final encounters.
Albion’s Chattergoon (most wickets in final), Lallbeharry (most runs in final), Ranga Lachigadoo (batsman with the most runs 159) and Hussein who copped the best all rounder prize, after compiling 111 runs and taking four wickets, were all rewarded for their efforts.