Arch rivals New Amsterdam/Canje and Lower Corentyne will be preparing to duke it out in the finals of the 2013 Berbice Cricket Board (BCB)/Diamond Fire & General Insurance Under-19 Inter-zone Cricket Tournament after successful wins the semi-finals of the tournament.
New Amsterdam disposed of West Berbice in their encounter winning by an innings and 125 runs. Lower Corentyne trashed Upper Corentyne by a mammoth 406 runs to set up a final match between the two rivals.
Playing at the Bush Lot ground, West Berbice was skittled out for 94 in their first innings. Royston Wade (29) and Paul Deonarine (22) were the only players to offer resistance.
Romario Shepherd 6 for 39 from 12 overs; Suresh Dhanai 2 for 38 from 10 overs and off-spinner Leon Andrews 2 for 3 struck with the ball in their campaigns.
New Amsterdam/Canje in reply racked up a huge 304 all out. Shepherd returned with the bat and scored an attractive 111, which was decorated with 10 boundaries. He received support from Hakeem Hinds (37), Jerome Andrews 26 not out and Shimron Hetmyer 23.
Grisean Grant grabbed 3 for 31, while Derick Narine Jr, Kevon Jawahir and E. Joseph all chipped in with two wickets each.
West Berbice in their second innings faced a deficit of 210 runs and were eventually bowled out for 85. Aviskar Sewkarran (18) was the only batsman to past double figures.
Left arm spinner Parmanand Ramnarine who snapped up 6 for 24 and Leon Andrews 2 for 4 completed the victory for the visitors.
Over at the Number 69 Viking ground the Lower Corentyne team reached 201 for 9 in their first innings off their allotted 65 overs.
Sharaz Ramcharran (30), Arif Chan (36), Gudakesh Motie 34 not out, Askay Homraj (25) and Devin Baldeo (27) were the notable run scorers.
Bowling for Upper Corentyne Viendra Gooniah picked up 5 wickets for 60.
Upper Corentyne were bowled out for 59 in their first inning. Eon Williams (17) was the only player to reach double figures.
Off spinner David Latchaya did the damage taking 7 for 18 and was supported by Shailendra Shameer who grabbed 3 for 27.
Lower Corentyne blasted their way to 312 for 9 in their second innings. Batting at number 10 Gudakesh Motie-Kanhai smacked a brilliant 102 not out which included14 boundaries and a massive six, Askay Homraj (95) and David Latchaya (47) heavily reinforced.
Brandt took 3 for 81and Parmanand Narine took 4 for 68.
Needing to 464 for an impossible victory the home team was eventually bowled out for 57 in their hunt. National Under-19 captain Shawn Pereira took 2 for 26 and received support from Shailendra Shameer 2 for 18 and Motie 2 for 7.
The date and venue for the final and 3rd place playoff will be announced by the Berbice Cricket Board shortly.
