Spinner Raj Nannan ripped through a hapless East Bank side yesterday as Georgetown romped to an easy eight-wicket win at the Wales Community Center Ground when the CGI/Local Franchise League (LFL) continued yesterday.
The left-arm orthodox spinner bowled brilliantly to capture 4-10 as East Bank crashed to 94 all out in 26.2 overs. Leonard Caleb (29) and Shivram Persaud (23) were the two top-scorers while 13 runs from skipper Robin Bacchus was the next best score. It was a simple task for the visitors who took just 15.4 overs to get to 96-2 with the in-form Jetendra Sookdeo smashing six fours and a six in his top knock of 40, continuing his good form with the bat.
East Bank lost their first wicket, that of opener Shawn Pooran (00) who was caught and bowled by Georgetown Captain Kellon Carmichael (2-26). Bacchus and Caleb did minor repairs but left-arm pacer Andre Stoll (1-25) had Bacchus trapped lbw while Carmichael got his second wicket when Danny Warayan fell for 02.
Nannan joined the party and was rewarded with the wicket of Caleb and, along with fellow Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) club-mate and one of the competition’s leading wicket-takers, spinner Devon Lord, who finished with 2-30, they mopped up the East Bank boys long before lunch.
During the chase, Sookdeo, another product of GCC, played with the same freedom and style as he did in the previous rounds, latching onto anything loose from the bowlers. Warayan drew first blood when he picked up the wicket of Andrew Lyght Jr. for 13 but the experienced pair of Barrington, who thumped three fours and a six and Travis Blyden, who struck two fours in his unbeaten knock of eight made light work of the required target, taking their team home 15 minutes before lunch.
Georgetown, who will be boosted by the return of senior pros Leon Johnson and Chris Barnwell will now turn their attention to the team they were beaten by on Sunday, Upper Canje in tomorrow’s qualifier at the Port Mourant Cricket Club (PMCC) Ground. The winner of that encounter will face finalist Lower Canje in Saturday’s final played at Albion under lights.
