Rain after the luncheon period, a relentless fight from the Rest Team players and a ‘graveyard’ Blairmont Community Centre ground pitch, contributed towards a drawn encounter between the Rest Team and Berbice in the first round of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Four-day tournament yesterday.
The Rest Team, resuming on their overnight score of 322-5 with Shemroy Barrington unbeaten on 152, were eventually dismissed for 423 from 129.4 overs, a lead of 233 runs.
Barrington fell for 155 while Delbert Hicks, 11 not out overnight, scored 55 with six fours and one six.
Up until the lunch break on yesterday’s fourth day, 1003 runs were scored and Berbice were yet to take the crease for a second time.
The Berbice bowling was spearheaded by off spinner Royston Crandon who finished with 3-62 from 20 overs while pacer Brandon Bess had 2-67 from 14 overs.
Left arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul, who finished with match figures 7-188, had figures of 2-123 from his 31.4 overs; Esaun Crandon (1-47) and Narsingh Deonarine (1-63).
Berbice made an early breakthrough by removing n Barrington who had added a mere three runs to his overnight score but his teammates continued the pattern of forming vital partnerships.
It allowed them to erase the first innings 190-run deficit and post a 219-run lead by lunch.
Barrington who was caught at mid off by Bess off the bowling of Permaul, batted for 394 minutes and faced 266 balls, 20 of which were dispatched to the boundary.
During lunch the rains came and when play eventually resumed, 36 overs were to be bowled, with 15 mandated to be bowled in the final hour.
Berbice, needing to score 234 for victory, were led by a blistering 42 from Sewnarine Chattergoon while Royston Crandon and Assad Fudadin contributed 29 and 24 runs respectively as Berbice, chasing an unlikely victory, reached 139-6 from 29 overs.
Krishendat Ramoo, 2-43 (11) and Deon Ferrier, 2-47 were the principal wicket-takers.
Berbice, who scored 392 all out in the first innings, gained six points from the drawn encounter while the Rest Team earned three points.
Berbice started positively in their second innings with left hander Chattergoon, who was dropped on six by Raj Nanan at deep backward square, treating opening bowlers Keyron Fraser and Kellon Carmichael unkindly.
He struck Fraser for four fours and Carmichael for a six and a four.
Berbice lost the wicket of Richard Ramdeen when the score was 11 when he attempted to clear the ropes at long leg.
This did not deter Chattergoon but rather spurred him to new heights as he scored 38 out of his team’s 54 runs from 6.2 overs at Tea.
After Tea Chattergoon and Deonarine rotated the strike with their quick running between the wicket and it was another quick run that resulted in Chattergoon’s downfall.
Chattergoon made 42 (5×4, 1×6) from 29 balls after sharing a 50-run partnership with Deonarine and was dismissed as he attempted a second run.
Deonarine, who started to appear tired, was caught at square leg by Ramoo off the bowling of Ferrier shortly after for 18.
Skipper Royston Crandon and Anthony Bramble also ran well between the wickets and Crandon mixed it up by sweeping Ferrier for six over midwicket.
Crandon, who had some nervous moments afterwards, succumbed to spinner Ramoo, caught by Wasim Haslim at mid on for 29 from 30 balls.
Things got worse when Bramble also lost his wicket caught by substitute fielder Seon Hetymyer at midwicket off the bowling of Ferrier.
After being 61-2, Berbice digressed to 105-5 in the 17th over. The run rate dropped significantly as Fudadin and Devon Clements set about repairing the damage and there were some tense moments. A misfielding blunder by Carmichael gave Clements a `life’ after the batsman was stranded halfway down the wicket.
When the last hour rolled around, Berbice needed 114 runs. Coach of the team Adrian Amsterdam said that they had “written off going for the win”, adding “we are going to see how the next five or six overs go.”
The singles came easy as the Rest Team fielders were spread wide with Ferrier and Ramoo operating.
Rest Team Captain Gajanand Singh showed no sign of stemming the flow of the singles that leaked from the lax field setting.
Despite that, Fudadin held out to long on and was caught by Hetmyer off Ramoo, whose steady off spin was creating trouble out in the middle and at 16:55 the umpires called off the match with seven of the mandatory 15 overs remaining.
Clements and Permaul were unbeaten on 11 and three respectively.
Scoreboard
Rest Team first innings 202 (W. Haslim 52, V. Permaul 5-65)
Rest Team second innings
R. Ramdass c wkp Bramble b Bess 21
S. Barrington c Bess b Permaul 155
G. Singh c sub Latchana b R. Crandon 35
J. Foo c Chattergoon b R. Crandon 21
W. Haslim c Ramdeen b Deonarine 54
D. Ferrier lbw E. Crandon 21
D. Hicks c & b Bess 55
K. Ramoo c wkp Bramble b R. Crandon 21
K. Carmichael hit wicket b Latcha 16
R. Nanan c Bess b Permaul 8
K. Fraser not out 7
Extras: (b-3, lb-3, w-1, nb-1) 8
Total: (all out from 129.4 overs) 423
Bowling: E. Crandon 15-4-47-1, B. Bess 14-2-67-2, V. Permaul 31.4-8-123-2, S. Latcha 18-5-47-1, R. Crandon 20-8-62-3, N. Deonarine 18-4-63-1, D. Clements 1-1-0-0, R. Ramdeen 1-1-0-0, S. Chattergoon 3-1-8-0
FOW: 1-32, 2-117, 3-147, 4-243, 5-291, 6-333, 7-379, 8-402, 9-409, 10-423
Berbice first innings 392 (R. Crandon 117)
Berbice second innings
S. Chattergoon run out 42
R. Ramdeen c Carmichael b Fraser 3
N. Deonarine c Ramoo b Ferrier 16
R. Crandon c Haslim b Ramoo 29
A. Bramble c sub Hetmyer b Ferrier 7
A. Fudadin c sub Hetmyer b Ramoo 24
D. Clements not out 11
V. Permaul not out 5
Did not bat: E. Crandon, S. Latcha, B. Bess
Extras: (lb-3, w-1) 4
Total: (for 6 wkts from 29 overs) 139
Bowling: K. Fraser 3-0-25-1, K. Carmichael 3-0-21-0, D. Ferrier 12-0-47-2, K. Ramoo 11-1-43-2
FOW: 1-11, 2-61, 3-76, 4-101, 5-105, 6-136
