Demerara and Berbice to contest final aftervictories over Essequibo
As is customary in local cricket, Demerara and their nemesis Berbice will once again clash in another final, this time it is the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Pepsi/Carib senior Inter-county 20/20 competition after they both recorded victories over Essequibo.
Berbice were the first to defeat the Cinderella County, doing so by eight wickets in the first game of the day’s double header at the Blairmont Community Centre (BCC) ground while Demerara without the services of Travis Dowlin recorded a seven-wicket defeat on the Essequibians.
In the Demerara/Essequibo encounter, the defending champions won the toss and asked the local cricket minnows to take first strike on a flat batting wicket and in sultry conditions before reducing them to 127-9. They replied with 129-3 from 18.3 overs.
When Essequibo batted, they got to 20 in the fourth over before Ravi Beharry (01) was bowled by Steven Jacobs who took 2-14 from four overs of tight off spin bowling and even though Vishwanath Lall struck Jacobs over extra cover for four, followed by two more boundaries off Christopher Barnwell (3-16), he was removed by Jacobs.
Skipper Norman Fredericks (35) and Latchman Rohit (32) then added 65 runs for the fourth wicket after their team were 38-3 in the seventh over, following the loss of Oyono Sampson (09) who had struck Sauid Drepaul over wide midwicket for six.
Fredericks and Rohit took the fight to the defending champions with the former steering Drepaul (1-19) to third man for four, followed by a drive through extra cover to post his team’s 50 while Rohit hit Drepaul and Dion Ferrier (1-24) for maximums.
But after Rohit was caught by Jacobs off Zaheer Mohammed (1-24) and Fredericks caught by Ferrier off Barnwell, the Essequibo batting crumbled and could only manage their eventual total, with Roopnarine Persaud and Rensford Beaton being the not out batsmen on six and nought respectively.
Controlled bowling by the Essequibians restricted Demerara to 48-2 after 10 overs, with both Barnwell (08) who was caught by Floyd Henry running around from deep mid wicket to deep backward square and Rajendra Chandrika (05) being the batsmen back in the pavilion.
But then former national under-19 batsmen Shemroy Barrington (63) and Gajanand Singh (38*) joined forces and after having a close look at the bowling, opened their shoulders with Barrington being the enforcer, hitting the Cinderella County bowlers to all parts of the BCC ground.
Beaton (1-30) and Andrew Williams were roughed up by Barrington who struck the former elegantly through midwicket for four while the latter was hit over extra cover for six. He posted his 50 with an improvised sweep to fine leg off Beaton from his 42nd delivery, counting five fours and one six in the process.
But after hitting Williams graciously through point for four, followed by a reverse sweep to backward square-leg he was caught by Beharry off Beaton, but his wicket was not good enough for Essequibo as Singh got into his stride to hit Beaton over midwicket for four.
He then struck Rohit for a six and four off successive deliveries and together with Jacobs (6*) took Demerara to victory with a flick to the backward square leg boundary off Fredericks in the penultimate over, thus setting up a rematch with Berbice.
Earlier, Essequibo who were without the services of Trevon Garraway, Ryan Hercules and Trevor Benn, were bowled out for a meager 89 from 19 overs in their game against Berbice with Lall (33), Rohit (16) and Holder (15) being the principal scorers against the bowling of national left arm orthodox bowler Veerasammy Permaul (3-14).
In reply, Berbice lost the wicket of national opener Royston Crandon (01) who was run out by Sampson who was stationed at backward square leg, after Richard Ramdeen (42*) refused his call for what would have been an impossible single in the second over, but rallied to score 93-2 from 11.3 overs.
Essequibo got off to a bright start with Lall and Beharry (09) adding 25 runs in the first five overs before Beharry was caught by Assad Fudadin at short extra cover off Esaun Crandon (2-21) who later held a stupendous return catch from Fredericks (01) to leave Essequibo on 31-2.
They moved to 44-3 before Navishal Pooran (06) was dismissed, followed by Latchman Rohit who struck two fours in a run-a-ball 16, by Royston Crandon to be 68-4, from which point they never recovered even though Wayne Holder struck Royston Crandon for a four through backward square leg, followed by a six over midwicket off successive deliveries. They still crumbled to 89 all out.
Permaul engineered the collapse when he removed Holder (15), Floyd Henry (02) and Errol Greene in successive overs while Andrew Williams can go down in history as the first local batsman to be given out time out in this format of the game, as he failed to reach the wicket within the stipulated time frame.
Berbice shook off the loss of Royston Crandon through the efforts of Deonarine (34 5×4; 1×6) who dispatched Rohit through point for four, followed by a six over midwicket off successive deliveries before hitting Fredericks over extra cover the Lall (1-28) through the covers and to long on for boundaries.
Ramdeen who had blazed his way to a pugnacious 77 the night before for his club Young Warriors then got into the boundary scoring act by hitting Fredericks through backward square leg twice for four as Berbice raced to 43-1 in the seventh over. Deonarine was then given a life by Williams who dropped a sitter at deep backward square leg off Fredericks final delivery of his spell with Berbice 46-1 in the seventh over.
Deonarine thanked the Cinderella County team for the life by hitting Lall over midwicket for four to post the 50 but saw Williams holding onto his next offer on the cover boundary off the next delivery.
There were no further alarms for the Berbicians as Ramdeen hit the hapless Williams through midwicket for four, followed by a six over midwicket while Fudadin who was unbeaten on 13 at the end, sealed the win for his team just as he did the previous day by hitting Williams to wide long on for four. Berbice reached 93-2 from 11.3 overs.
Berbice have advanced to the final and will be looking to reclaim the title they lost to Demerara last year at the Guyana National Stadium when they face them at the same venue and under lights on Friday from 19:00hrs.