Central/Upper Corentyne was declared the winner of the first ever Berbice Cricket Board (BCB)/Diamond Fire and General Insurance Company Under-19 Inter-zone tournament after heavy rain forced an early abandonment of the finals versus West Berbice at the Port Mourant ground.
The winner was declared on the basis of a faster run rate according to the rules of the tournament.
A heavy thunderstorm drove the players off the field at 4pm with Upper Corentyne at 114-6 off 43 of their allotted 65 overs, chasing 143 for victory.
Earlier West Berbice batting after losing the toss on the first day which was also cut short by two hours owing to overnight rain scored 143 all out off 56 overs.
Openers Sherwyn McPherson (16) and Raffel Estriado (23) gave them a promising start of 40 before McPherson was caught and bowled by left arm spinner Chandrachakar Arjune.
Without addition to the score and in the same over, skipper Asif Khan was brilliantly caught by Mark Lionel for nought before Estrado and Brentol Woolford took the score to 85 in the 35th over.
Estrado was dismissed by off spinner Alex Amsterdam while Woolford was also caught off Amsterdam for a well played 36 as West Berbice middle and lower order collapsed against the all spin attack.
Only Sudash Mohan (21) and Lajeram Chitram (15) offered any resistance as Amsterdam 4-34, Arjune 3-38 and off spinner Mark Bheemsingh 2-12 bowled well.
In reply Central/Upper Corentyne openers Bheemsingh and Lionel put on 39 for the first wicket, before Bheemsingh was caught off Asif Khan for 19 while national under-19 pacer Keyron Fraser bowled first round century maker Alex Amsterdam for nought to leave the home team in trouble at 42 for 2.
Worse was to come as Lionel (20) was bowled off the inside edge by pacer Roun Johnson to make it 43-3.
Clifton Pestano (10) and Anthony Bramble (11) were then dismissed cheaply as their team slipped to 64-5 in the 28th over.
Rajendra Ramcharitar was stumped for 2 off Sherwyn McPherson to make it 86 for 6 but responsible batting by Eric Angel 20 not out and Pradeep Singh (16 not out) saw their team to 114 for 6 when the rains came.
President of the BCB Keith Foster expressed gratitude to the directors, management and members of the Diamond Fire and General Insurance Co. for their sponsorship and urged the young cricketers to support the company. He also told the gathering that his board is determined to transform Berbice cricket to a higher level and in 2009 the game would be played at all levels from under-13 to 1st division.
Brentol Woolford was named Best Batsman in the finals, Alex Amsterdam Best Bowler and Mark Bheemsingh Man-of-the-Match in the finals. Each of them received an educational package worth $6,000 while the three umpires in the finals each received a special gift of a hygiene kit. The winner took home a trophy and $40,000, runner-up West Berbice $25,000 while 3rd place Lower Corentyne received $20,000 and 4th place New Amsterdam/Canje $15,000.
