Half-centuries from Sherfane Rutherford and Jeetendra Sookdeo bolstered by some compelling bowling, saw Georgetown cruising to a 56-run win over West Demerara yesterday in the ongoing Cricket Guyana Inc (CGI) Local Franchise League (LFL) 50 over competition.
Sookdeo who scored 70 against Essequibo on Tuesday, recorded a second consecutive half-century, with a patient 63 from 99 balls including seven fours; while Rutherford, the hard-hitting National U17 all-rounder assisted with 63 as the winners took their total to 241 for 7 from 50 overs.
Despite losing their first wicket for 17, the home team dug themselves out of further trouble thanks to Sookdeo’s tremendous batting form at the top of the order. After he was run out by Malcom Hubbard, West Demerara briefly gained some momentum with a few wickets before Rutherford and David Dick (32), created a good lower-order partnership. Hubbard struck again when he had Rutherford stumped, however Kemol Savory came to the rescue with an unbeaten 24.
Malcom Hubbard was the pick of the bowlers with 3-33 and did a tremendous job garnering the wickets of Sookdeo, Andrew Lyght Jr (25) and Rutherford.
However, the West Dem team suffered the same fate that befell Essequibo on Tuesday, when Georgetown’s bowlers led by spinner Devon Lord with 3-32 and Kellon Carmichael’s, Rutherford’s and Sookdeo’s two wickets apiece, restricted the visitors to 188 all out in 48 overs with Gavin Singh offering the only resistance with 52.
Chasing the total of 241, West Dem reached 35 for 1 before losing their first wicket. However in spite of the efforts of Travis Persaud (19), Ronaldo Renee (10) and Hubbard (13), West Dem found themselves clinging on at 91 for 6. Narine launched a counterattack but was unsupported by his team members as Georgetown pushed them to 180 for 9, with four overs remaining to achieve their target, a feat that proved too much for the out-of-towners.
Recap of Tuesday’s round
Sookdeo’s 70 and 4-10 helped restrict the Cinderella County boys who were rattled out for a measly 102 from 36 overs in their pursuit of Georgetown’s 174 from 48 overs.
During the chase, Essequibo never got going, losing their first six wickets for 94 runs. Ricardo Peters (20) and Ricardo Adams (21) the mainstays for Essequibo were unable to thwart the Georgetown bowlers. The defeat was dealt swiftly by spinner Lord (2-16), who wrapped up the innings convincingly for his team.
Playing at the Farm ground on the East Bank, West Demerara were asked to take first strike, after Lower Corentyne/New Amsterdam/Canje won the toss, and mustered 92 all out in 20 overs with Danny Narine’s 29 the only resistance offered.
Bowling for the visitors, national pacer Raun Johnson ripped through the opposition with 5-29 off 4 overs while former national under 19 Captain Eugene La Fleur supported well with 2-14.
In reply, Lower Corentyne/New Amsterdam/Canje raced to 93-1 in just 13 overs with La Fleur stroking six fours in an unbeaten 45 while Wyheid Edwards chipped in with 29 not out.
Over at the Enmore ground, East Coast Demerara defeated West Berbice by 16 runs in a low scoring match. Batting first after losing the toss, the home team limped to 95 all out in 49.5 overs as Krishnadat Ramoo (3-18) and Waqar Hassan (3-16), delivered a satisfactory bowling spell.
West Berbice for their part were limited to 79 all out in 32 overs, compliments of some magic from spinner Steven Sankar who claimed 4 -22 off his 10 overs while Vivian Albert and national pacer Paul Wintz supported well with 2-20 and 2-23 respectively.
The action continues this weekend with games across the country bowling off at 9:30hrs.
