Shimron Hetmyer’s ton reinforced by quick strikes from the Berbice bowlers left Demerara reeling at 71 for 8 needing 227 runs for a victory heading into the third and final day of the ongoing Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) U19 three day tournament.
At stumps, Berbice were on top after Tevin Imlach (09), Akshaya Persaud (03) and skipper Travis Persaud (13) fell victim to the menacing pace of Grisean Grant (3-23) while Renaldo Renee (04) and Tariq Dharmalall (04) accompanied their teammates back to the dressing room.
Mark Hamilton (08), was bowled by Khan leaving the hosts wobbling at 64 for 4. Carlton Drakes (18) joined the list of batsmen who succumbed to the pressure applied by the Berbician bowlers, who with their tails up, continued to take wickets.
A clueless looking Jayadan Mana (01) was the
eighth wicket to fall before the close of play as spinner Balchand Baldeo
2-20, was supported by wickets from Kassim Khan, Leon Andrews and Daniel Lewis.
Hetmyer, the Guyana and West Indies U19 opener stroked a delightful 114 with 16 crisp fours while Baldeo scored 66 as the two national youth players shared a 169-run partnership which allowed Berbice to pile up 250 in 53 overs.
Demerara all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford continued his good form with the ball, snatching 5-68 with his right-arm pace.
Resuming their first innings with a deficit of 54 runs, Demerara who Began yesterday with the score 144-7, were restricted to 152 all out 5.4 overs into the morning session. Spinners Andrews (3-3) and Balchand Baldeo (3-38) were the chief tormentors with the ball for Berbice while Daniel Lewis (2-35), Kassim Khan (1-32) and Omar Weatherspoon (1-11) duly supported the duo.
Carlton Jacques, two, succumbed to Andrews as did Jayaden Mana (00),
while Baldeo dismissed the overnight batsman Daniel Basdeo for 29, as
the hosts lost their final three wickets for eight runs. Batting a second time with a meagre lead of 47, pacer Rutherford bagged his fifth wicket of the match when he removed
Andrews for two but Hetymer and Baldeo launched a vicious counter-attack which bailed their team out of possible trouble.
Hetymer was the more aggressive of the two, latching onto anything in
his hitting zone while Baldeo was keen on grafting his innings as they steered Berbice to 91-1 at the lunch interval. The pair of National Youth players continued to frustrate the Demerara bowlers and added insult to injury by bringing up their respective half centuries with Hetmyer’s coming off 56 balls and Baldeo’s off 76. The boundaries continued to flow while the lead continued to stretch as Hetmyer played aggressively throughout his 140-minute stay at the crease, enough time to reach his milestone off 107 balls with a cheeky pull shot for four down fine leg, his 16th four of the innings.
He celebrated by punching his fist to the sky and raising his bat.
Demerara would then pull things back when the skipper Travis Persaud would have Baldeo caught by Askshaya Persaud while the century maker’s removal came off Dharamlall who also removed Samuel Kistasammy (5), while Kassim Khan was run out without scoring.
After the tea break Ramdhan flexed his muscles with a flurry of boundaries during his brisk knock. However, the tail-enders Grant (1), Brandon Persaud (1), Ritesh Omrao (0) and Omar Weatherspoon (2) failed to make an impact and were removed cheaply.
