Lower Corentyne crushes Central/Upper Corentyne to reach final
Lower Corentyne advanced to the finals of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) Diamond Fire and General Insurance Under-19 inter-zone tourney after giving a good all-round performance against Central/Upper Corentyne.
Batting first after winning the toss, Central/Upper Corentyne found themselves in trouble early at 13-1 and this trend continued as the team lost wickets at regular intervals before crumbling at 105 all-out and 47 overs in the 65-over game. Clavern Beresford top-scored with 19 not-out while Mark Lionel (12), Naem Yacoob and Dwayne Maynard were the only other batsmen to reach double figures at the game held at the Port Mourant Cricket ground.
Bowling for Lower Corentyne Lloydel Lewis took 4-30 off 17 impressive overs while leg spinner Avinash Wajid had figures of 2-19 and off spinner Harrinarine Chattergoon supported with 2-21 off 13 overs.
Chasing 106 for crucial first innings points, Lower Corentyne reached 236 all-out off their allotted overs. Captain Dominic Rickey and opening partner Chattergoon posted 59 for the first wicket before left arm spinner Dwayne Maynard trapped Chattergoon lbw 13.
Rickey went on to make an attractive 81 with 10 boundaries while Joshua Ramsammy (29), Clinton Pestano (25) and Lewis (30) batted well. Bowling for Central/Upper Corentyne Yacoob took 4-57 runs and Mark Lionel 2-30.
Batting a second time with a deficit of 131 runs, Central/Upper Corentyne were dismissed for 165 with Lionel returning with the bat to top score with an attractive 59 which included four boundaries and Stephen Embrack supported with 50 (3×4). All-rounder Lewis completed a good match by taking 4-61 off 20 overs and a match haul of 8 for 91.
Leg spinner Wajid returned figures of 4-47 and Verapen Permaul (2-31) gave valuable support. Needing to score 35 for an outright victory, Lower Corentyne reached 37 without loss with Trevor Thomas being left 15 and Kandasammy Surujnarine on 19 not-out.
Lower Corentyne will now challenge the winner of the New Amsterdam/Canje and West Berbice match.