Berbice Captain Narsingh Deonarine produced a brilliant man-of-the-match performance to orchestrate a thrilling 10-run win over Demerara in last evening’s final of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Inter-County one day competition at the Albion Community Development Centre ground.
Played in front of a very animated Berbice crowd in a match reduced to 26 overs-per-side after heavy rainfall in most of the Ancient County, Deonarine cracked a top score of 44 which included three fours and one six which was the backbone of his team’s 163 which proved to be a winnable total. Devon Clements who chipped in with a vital 30 shared a crucial 34-run partnership with his skipper.
Demerara rode on the form of Trevon Griffith who narrowly missed out on another half-century as he fell for a crafty 44 from 47 deliveries with two fours while Robin Bacchus scored 25 but the visitors were restricted to 153 for 9 at the end of their 26 overs.
Bowling for Berbice Veerasammy Permaul claimed 3-32, Deonarine 2-23 and pacer Keon Joseph 2-28 .
The Demerara bowlers for the most part were disciplined during their spells, led by seamer Paul Wintz who picked up three wickets but was a bit expensive going for 40 in his four overs while reinforcement came from Bacchus who captured (2-24), Steven Jacobs (2-31) and Raj Nannan (1-18).
Andrew Lyght Jnr (17) and Griffith started off in an uncharacteristic, watchful manner during the Demerara chase, picking up singles and twos instead of the usual flurry of boundaries. Lyght Jnr was given a life when Deonarine dropped a sitter at first slip as Romario Shepherd held his head in agony.
The former Under-19 all-rounder then got some much needed retribution when he disturbed the stumps of Lyght Jr who found himself cramped for room. Griffith, attempting a reverse slog-sweep was given a life when Rajiv Ivan failed to cling on to the relatively low yet simple catch at square-leg.
Deonarine proved to be a handful on the gripping surface and had Bacchus caught in the deep while the kidney shot was dealt by Permaul who uprooted the leg and off stump of skipper Chris Barnwell (3) who attempted a conventional slog-sweep and was bowled all over the place.
Trouble loomed when Griffith was bowled by Deonarine who snared his 10th wicket of the tournament. Rajendra Chandrika (12) was LBW attempting the sweep shot which accounted for yet another wicket, compliments of good bowling from Permaul.
The wheels began to fall off for Demerara when Gudakesh Motie-Kanhai confined Shemroy Barrington (1) to a LBW decision which was followed by the dismissal of Zaheer Mohamed (13) who miscued a pull shot and was brilliantly caught by Kandasammy Surujanrine at short third man.
With the light fading and the odds stacked against the visitors, Chandrapaul Hemraj was knocked over by Joseph for 10 who then had Jacobs caught behind for 1. Facing a steep task of scoring 23 runs from 6 balls, Joseph bowled a stingy final over to help his side to the title.
Earlier, Wintz struck in the third ball of his first over when he foxed opener Surujanrine (0) with a three card trick, swinging away the first two and bringing in the third which straightened, finding the edge of the bat and the safe hands of Griffith at first slip.
After the fall of the first wicket, Anthony Bramble and Clements remained positive against the bowlers who were given one and two over bursts due to the scenario being shifted to a relatively similar 20/20 setting.
The rotation worked well for Demerara when Nannan struck in his third over, pinning Bramble LBW for 12 leaving Deonarine the task of steadying the innings. Another good piece of fielding by Griffith, who took a diving catch at the long-on boundary accounted for the dismissal of the set looking Clements, whose misfortune rewarded the off-spinner Jacobs with his first scalp.
At 69 for, the left-hander Ivan (10) looked aggressive in his approach but was too eager to get on with the game, thus mistiming a delivery from Jacobs which was swallowed by Nannan at third man. The discarded West Indies batsman and Captain Deonarine continued to show signs of his
undeniable class despite wickets falling around him, by continuously upping the run rate.
However, an eerie silence from the vocal Albion crowd soon fell upon the stands of the legendary ground when Bacchus was brought into the attack and immediately had the Berbice skipper caught in the deep by a diving Jacobs.
A bit of intensity between Wintz and Johnathan Foo saw the pugnacious right-hander who a ball before pulled the seamer for a vicious four through mid-wicket, being given out by virtue of obstructing the field after he hit a return throw from Wintz in the air and was caught for 10.
Barnwell removed Seon Hetmyer who failed to trouble the scorers and was caught behind by Barrington while Lyght Jr took a good catch at the long-on boundary off the bowling of Wintz to removed Shepherd for 5.
Permaul (12) had his stumps uprooted by Bacchus; a few streaky fours through the slip cordon saw Berbice bringing up their 150 which also brought about the demise of Motie-Kanhai who was bowled by Wintz for 12, bringing the innings to an end.
At the post match presentation, Kevon Boodie from Essequibo was named leading run-scorer (259), Deonarine best bowler with 10 wickets and Barrington the best wicket-keeper.
