Defending champions West Demerara yesterday defeated Georgetown by 35 runs to win their opening match of the 2015 Demerara Under-19 Inter Association competition at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) ground.
West Demerara’s skipper Travis Persaud’s unbeaten 87 eclipsed that of Georgetown’s leader Ronaldo Ali-Mohamed.
Persaud’s solid but patient innings led his team to 279-5 from 50 overs while Mohamed’s aggressive effort went in vain, as his team fell short by 35 runs. Persaud, the former Guyana U-17 skipper, struck nine fours and two sixes during his innings.
He added 89 for the second wicket with namesake Akshaya Persaud who made 58, followed by 61 for the fifth wicket with Chetnarine Pooran (32).
Pacer Carlton Jacques 2-46 was Georgetown’s chief bowler while Ali-Mohamed and Dharamlall supported with a wicket apiece.
Demerara slipped to 64-4 in their chase as Richie Looknauth bowled effectively to claim two top order wickets. However, Ali-Mohamed combined with Timothy McCalmont (58) and the two carried the score to 187 to revive Georgetown’s hope.
Ali-Mohamed was fortunate to survive a life after being put down at extra cover on 35. He wasted little time after that as he attempted to turn the game in his team’s favour.
He struck 11 fours and three sixes before he was caught trying to increase his team’s scoring rate. Meanwhile, McCalmont batted in Mohamed’s shadow throughout, nudging singles and twos before eventually freeing his arms after his skipper’s dismissal.
With 93 needed from 78 balls, McCalmont was then joined by Shaquile Moseley, with whom he added 51 for the sixth wicket before Moseley was stumped for 24. After Moseley’s removal, Georgetown lost its way when Travis Persaud took three quick wickets as Georgetown lost its final four wickets for five runs.
Travis Persaud and Looknauth led West Demerara’s bowling claiming three victims each while Shemar Desouza collected two wickets.
At the Enterprise Community Development Centre ground, East Coast triumphed over East Bank by eight wickets. East Bank made 139 all out in 42.1 overs, with Ershan Alli scoring 37 as A. Rampersaud, Vivian Albert and Jayadave Mana claimed
two wickets apiece. East Coast responded with 142-2, with Daveraj Chunilall top scoring with 38 while Albert and Bhaskar Yadram ended on unbeaten scores of 36 and 27 respectively.
Today East Coast will host Georgetown at Enterprise Community Development Centre ground while West Demerara face East Bank at Everest Cricket Club.
