Demerara yesterday clinched the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) senior inter county four-day title when they defeated GT&T Berbice by four wickets at the Everest Cricket Club ground.
The win came after 38 overs of batting as the GT&T Berbice bowlers refused to go down without a fight. Accurate bowling and some injudicious shot selection resulted in Demerara losing six wickets in their chase of 79 runs.
The win earned them the ‘double’ as they previously won the 50 Overs title.
Resuming on 185/9, with a lead of 63, GT&T Berbice soon lost Keon Joseph for 15 to Amir Khan to be bowled out for 200 in 81.2 overs.
Off spinner Zaheer Mohamed captured 5-40 from 28 overs and leg-spinner Amir Khan 3-68 from 26.2 overs. Shaquille Wiliams took the other wicket, that of Assad Fudadin, while Eon Hooper was run out.
With a lead of 78 runs, Demerara should have fancied an easy chase.
Berbice began with the spin of Hooper and the medium pace of Clinton Pestano and the pair produced a testing spell which resulted in the wicket of Rajendra Chandrika without scoring.
Chandrika top edged a pull shot at Pestano and the ball ballooned in the air for the bowler to take a simple return catch with Demerara yet to score.
Despite hitting a four over mid on off Hooper, Berbice continued to persevere with Pestano and Hooper and the move reaped another reward when Robin Bacchus got an inside edge as he pushed at a delivery from Pestano and played on for 10.
With the score 26. Chanderpaul Hemraj played a ball towards Gudakesh Motie-Kanhai at backward square for what looked like a comfortable single. However, Shemroy Barrington was given out run out for eight when wicket-keeper Jason Sinclair dislodged the bails.
Berbice could have had the wicket of Hemraj with the score 36 when an edge just evaded the fielder at gully Gajanand Singh.
Hemraj finally broke the shackles when he hit Motie-Kanhai for a six, followed by a four, as Demerara progressed to lunch on 56/3 in 25 overs.
After the lunch break Vishal Singh, on eight from 49 balls, came down the track to Motie-Kanhai and chipped a catch to a diving Hooper at mid wicket. With the score 59/4 his demise brought Shaquille Williams to the crease in the 28th over. With 11 to win Hemraj drove Motie-Kanhai in the air at extra cover where substitute fielder Shawn Pereira duly accepted the catch. Hemraj was dismissed for 33 from 79 balls with two fours and a six and his dismissal brought Zaheer Mohamed to the crease. Mohamed made five before he hit Motie-Kanhai to short cover where Pestano held on to the catch to reduce Demerara to 74/6.
Williams however sealed the victory for Demerara in exactly 38 overs with a swept boundary off Motie-Kanhai to take his score to nine while Joseph Perry was yet to get off the mark. Bowling for Berbice Motie-Kanhai took 3-21 while Pestano took 2-16.
For their victory Demerara received a trophy and $200,000.00.
There was no play in the other match at Wales between the President’s XI and Essequibo. Essequibo made 100 all out in response to the President’s XI’s 177. The President’s XI were 7/0 when rain ended play on day two, and that was to be the final passage of play in the match.
