By Clifton Ross
Narsingh Deonarine stroked a match winning half century taking Guyana to 177-6 in 48 overs as they defeated Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) in their Regional Super50 match yesterday at the Providence National Stadium.
Opting to bat first CCC were limited to 175 in 48.3 overs. Opener Anthony Alleyne composed a solid 59 before he was run out by Steven Jacobs.
Controlled bowling, discipline fielding and good captaincy were the elements present in the Guyanese camp. The first water break yielded 3 wickets for 47 runs.
Jacobs was the first bowler to produce a wicket when he had Chadwick Walton caught on one run with the score three wickets for one run.
Devendra Bishoo and pacer Paul Wintz were the most successful bowlers snapping up 5 wickets between themselves.
Bishoo had opener Shacaya Thomas (22) stumped by keeper Anthony Bramble, while Captain Kyle Corbin was bowled for duck. He was then involved in a run out with the assistance of Ramnaresh Sarwan which got rid of Akeem Dewar for 4.
From the other end Wintz bowled with control and consistency which rewarded him with two wickets; those of Nekoli Parris who was caught in the deep by Trevon Griffith for 31 and senior player Floyd Reifer who was bowled for 14.
Fast-man Ronsford Beaton dismissed Ramond Reifer for 21 having him caught in the deep by Bishoo, while Veersammy Premaul had Kevin Williams stumped by the keeper Anthony Bramble for 2.
Chasing 176 for a win Guyana‘s batsmen came out with guns blazing as opener Trevon Griffith smashed a quickfire 35. He along with veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul who opened the batting put on 35 in four overs.
Chanderpaul was trapped lbw for 2 off the bowling of Nekoli Parris, while Ramnaresh Sarwan (5) attempting a pull off Kesrick Williams was caught at mid-off.
In form batsman Leon Johnson came in and held things down with Griffith as they began to rebuild from their quick loss of wickets. Griffith was eventually caught off the bowling of Kesrick Williams for an aggressive 35.
Johnson found support in Narsingh Deonarine who came in and along with Johnson steadied the ship. The two put on 59 and held the middle together before Johnson held out to one off the bowling of Parris for a classy 39.
Deonarine continued his innings playing with a pulled hamstring batting sensibly and rotating the strike when needed. He found support from all-rounder Jacobs (12) and keeper Anthony Bramble (3) not out.
Deonarine who reached his half century eventually popped a return catch to spinner Ryan Austin.
Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo who had success with the ball earlier carried his bat to the end, smashing a boundary which took his team home in the 48th over as he scored 11 not out.
Stabroek Sports caught up with Man Of The Match Deonarine who said, ”My innings was hard, the pitch was not easy to bat on and shots had to be crafted but along with Johnno (Leon) we repaired the damage and played for our team and our supporters. I’m glad we were able to get over the line. We will be taking our winning momentum into our next encounter against Jamaica.”
