An unbeaten half-century from opener Ronald Renee helped West Demerara defeat East Coast by eight wickets in the final Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) inter-association Under-19 match played at the Wales Community Center Ground yesterday.
The right-hander stroked a mature 72 from 85 balls with 11 fours and one six as his team gunned down their target if 129 ending on 130 for 2 in 27.1 overs.
Earlier, the West Demerara bowlers had restricted their opponents to 129 all out 49.5 overs despite 30 runs apiece from Ramnarine Chatura and Richard Woolford.
West Demerara skipper Travis Persaud (2-22), Malcom Hubbard (2-34), Nicolai Reddy (2-10), Richie Looknauth (2-14) and Daniel Basdeo (1-11) were the wicket takers.
Renee started out in typical fashion with a barrage of shots as he smoked a brisk 19 in two overs while Mark Jeffers (12) watched from the other end. The left-handed Jeffers then joined in the fun with a back-foot square drive for four as West Demerara began scoring at nearly 10 runs per over.
The introduction of the spinners was negated by the two batsmen who nudged, tickled and defended the bowlers until Vivian Albert (2-29) was smashed into the bushes for six by Jeffers, requiring the umpires to toss out a new ball.
The boundaries continued to flow from the bats of the two young men who were in a hurry to wrap up the innings with a comprehensive win. The 50 came up in the seventh over with an advanced check drive for four by Jeffers who was then caught and bowled by Albert who turned things around with a double wicket maiden after trapping Akshaya Persaud (00) LBW.
The two quick strikes by Albert caused the slowing rate to drop significantly but West Demerara were still ahead in terms of wickets and run-rate while their X-factor Renee was still motoring along.
Renee then reached his half-century off 64 balls with his team scored well passed a hundred while Chitnarine Pooran (29*) struck three fours and a six as the match ended in the 28th over with a flurry of boundaries.
After electing to bat first when they won the toss, the East Coast U19 got off to a horrid start when they lost their first four wickets in; Bhaskar Yadram (00), Devraj Chunilall (00), Vivian Albert (03) and Gavin Boodwan (09) for just 23 runs.
Chatura, on the other hand, still looked positive despite the wickets falling around him but his demise came when he held out to Baldeo off the bowling of Persaud. With a three-figure score looking far from reality, Woolford launched a counter attack at the back end of the innings, smashing the bowlers to all parts of the ground.
Another cluster of wickets soon fell when Woolford, who looked set for a half century, was caught by Basdeo off Looknauth. The tail was mopped up by the West Demerara bowlers who removed Steven Mangal (01), Arvin Gainda (03), Jayaden Mana (12) and Askhaya Rampersaud (15) leaving Adrian Foster stranded on three.
