The Guyana Under-19 team will today lock horns with the undefeated Chris Barnwell-led Demerara team today at the Bourda Cricket ground as the Guyana Cricket Board’s Inter County one day tournament continues.
The youngsters who recently shot to fame after winning the Regional U19 50 overs and three-day titles, have lots of work to do when they collide with the red-hot Demerara side in the third round.
Demerara survived a scare from Essequibo in the first round when skipper Anthony Adams and Ricardo Adams shared eight wickets. However, the joint 50-over champs went on to record a victory by a slim margin. The second round saw Demerara, led by debutant leg-spinner Raj Nannan’s 4-28 comprehensively thumping joint 50-overs title holders Berbice by a whopping 144 runs.
The U19 side will now look to bounce back from their nightmare loss to Essequibo in the previous round when Essequibo batsman Kevon Boodie recorded the first one day double century.
Boodie smoked 14 fours and 21 sixes in his highest Inter-County one day r score of 217 as Essequibo won handsomely.
The young team will need to shake off their woes from the second round come today, as they will need to be utterly focused on the multiple threats which lie in the Demerara camp.
From a batting perspective, the U19’s have all the fire power needed in the top order which features West Indies U19 openers Tage `Brandon’ Chanderpaul and Shimron Hetmyer while the temperamental skipper Brian Sattaur will need to buckle down and desist from throwing away his wickets after getting starts.
The x-factor for the U19 is all-rounder Kemo Paul who has been the recent star for the young side over the last few tournaments. His power-hitting and ability to bowl with the new ball will be a vital for his team while other players such as Kemol Savory, Sharaz Ramcharran Ronaldo Ali Mohamed, Ashkay Homraj and other will need to play maturely in order to combat the seasoned Demerara side.
Nannan, who was magical with the ball, will be an asset against the young side who will be keen on taking on the left-arm orthodox spinner.
The batting will revolve around the in-form Trevon Griffith who has missed back-to-back half-centuries in both rounds while makeshift wicket-keeper/batsman Shemroy Barrington has scored a half-century added to an innings of 40.
Pressure will be on skipper Barnwell to do more with the bat especially against the U19s while fellow all-rounder Steven Jacobs has been on point with the ball but needs to step his game up with the bat.
Left-hander Robin Bacchus has gotten off to brisk starts but has failed to carry on and will need to rethink his approach come today.
So too will Rajendra Chandrika who has looked well during the previous games and will also want to knuckle down and anchor the middle-order when he bats.
Both teams have quality bowlers, the U19’s have Steven Sankar, Ramcharran, Ali Mohamed and a few others while the big guns Demerara will bank on a good start from Vice-Captain Paul Wintz, Nannan, Amir Khan, and Jacobs among others.
The match begins at 9:30hrs.
