The Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) yesterday defeated the USA-based Friends and Former Guyana Cricketers (FFGC) team in a memorial match for the late DCC player Andrew Lyght.
The match was reduced to a 12 overs-a-side affair because of the wet condition of the ground and the FFGC team, batting first, scored 108 in their allotted overs.
The Friends and Former Guyana Cricketers team, sponsored by Rockaway Sales, included former West Indies opening batsmen Faoud Bacchus and Clayton Lambert who, as expected opened the batting.
Although they began slowly on the slow, damp track with a soft, wet, freshly-cut field, they gave the side a solid start.
The first boundary of the innings came via a slash over backward point by Lambert off Chris Barnwell.
Bacchus, not to be outdone showed glimpses of his pedigree when he used feet elegantly to work the ball around off the spinners before Lambert was stumped off DCC president and former Guyana Under-19 player Alfred Mentore.
Andrew Lyght Jr., playing for the FFGC side, treated the large crowd which showed up to honour his father to a typically belligerent innings similar to one his father might have played.
But it was Bacchus who hit the first six of match when he deposited a full toss from Jamal `Bitter Man’ Hinckson over midwicket.
Lyght then hit three sixes over long off, midwicket and long on respectively to bring up the 50 in only six overs.
After a few more big hits Lyght and Bacchus retired and the remaining former national players hit a barrage of boundaries to lift the score to 108 at the end of 12 overs.
DCC’s opening pair of Barnwell and Hinckson started quietly, scoring just 10 runs after two overs.
The first six of the innings was hit off Lambert by Hinckson over square leg and that gave him some momentum as he went on to hit six more sixes before being bowled. National wicketkeeper Derwin Christian came in and hit his first ball for six and never looked back as he took DCC to the brink of victory. Although Barnwell was caught at long on with the score on 84, Mentore came in and finished off the game by hitting a six off Lyght Jnr.
A second game is scheduled for today at the Everest Cricket ground and is expected to start at 2pm.
