Scores: Demerara 128 for 3 (Leon Johnson 43 not out, Trevon Griffith 27, Royston Crandon 2-27, Steven Latcha 1-17) defeated Berbice (127 all out, Jonathan Foo 30, Narsingh Deonarine 18, Richard Ramdeen, Amir Khan 3-22, Kellon Carmichael 2-24, Totaram Bishun 2-25) by seven wickets.
President’s XI 124 for 1(Sewnarine Chattergoon 53 not out, Chanderpaul Hemraj 56 not out) defeated Essequibo 120 all out (Kevon Boodie 38, Herry Green 37, Steven Jacobs 4 for 20, Sewnarine Chattergoon 3 for 9, Deon Ferrier 2 for 8) by nine wickets.
At Everest; In a game that game that was reduced to 38 overs due to seepage of water from the covers that were on the pitch for the last three days, Demerara made one change bringing in wrist-spinner Totaram Bishun from left-arm seamer Andre Stoll.
The Berbicians, though, were unchanged from their previous round victory against the President’s XI at Blairmont.
Demerara skipper Leon Johnson won the toss and elected to field first with the clear aim of making use of the moisture in the surface.
Both decisions from Demerara were fully vindicated as in a insipid batting effort, the boys from the Ancient County were bowled out for a paltry 127 in 33.3 overs. Guyana Twenty20 hero Foo was the only significant scorer with 30.
The decision to pick Bishun, who took 2-25, proved significant, as, along with leg-spinner Amir Khan (3-22) and off-spinner Zaheer Mohammed, they choked and spun webs around the Berbice top-order. Kellon Carmichael with his medium pace was the other significant wicket-taker with figures of 2-24 claiming the wickets of openers Assad Fudadin and Richard Ramdeen for 9 and 16 respectively.
Demerara, in reply, got another solid opening partnership from opening pair Trevon Griffith and Shemroy Barrington who followed up their 88-run opening partnership against Essequibo on Saturday with a 48-run partnership. However both batsmen threw away their wickets with impatient shots.
Barrington played around a straight delivery from Crandon to be bowled for 10 and two overs later Griffith top edged a sweep to Steven Latcha at short fine-leg to be dismissed for 27 – again off Crandon, with scores on 48 and 57.
The local county side would lose the additional wicket of Gajanand Singh (19) with the score on 88, before the Georgetown Cricket Club pair of Johnson (43 not out) and Vishaul Singh combined to show their batting chemistry, en route to their second consecutive solid partnership in a matter of days, to lead Demerara to a convincing victory.
Over at DCC; Essequibo crashed to back-to-back defeats as the President’s XI pummelled them by nine-wickets in a thoroughly one-sided encounter.
The President’s XI won the and sent Essequibo and like on Saturday, 2011 Guyana Under-19 opener Kevon Boodie made an aggressive start, hitting three (3) massive sixes in the early overs – two coming off medium pacer Joshua Wade in the second over of the match, as Essequibo raced to 40 without loss in the seventh over.
However when Boodie was dismissed leg-before wicket to off-spinner Steven Jacobs for a quick-fire 38 (20 balls, 3×6, 1×4), the Essequibo innings folded dramatically as they lost their last nine wickets for 80 runs. Only number six and number give batsmen Herry Green with 37 (72 balls, 4×4) and Norwayane Fredericks (16) reached double figures in this dismal batting effort, on what was a good looking batting wicket at the Queenstown club venue.
The spinners were again the principal wicket-takers, with off-spinner Jacobs (4-20), leg-spinner Chattergoon (3-8) and Deon Ferrier from Maltennones (2-8) doing the damage.
Chasing this mediocre target, the President’s XI having gone to lunch on 87 for 1 off 16 overs, quickly knocked off the required runs thanks to unbeaten half-centuries by Chattergoon 53 (71 balls, 5×4, 2×6) who had good all-round game and Guyana Under-19 batsman Chanderpaul Hemraj 56 (65 balls, 7×4, 2×6.
The final round of the competition continues tomorrow with Essequibo clashing against Berbice at GCC, Ground, Bourda and Demerara facing President’s XI at DCC.
