All-rounder Ronaldo Alimohamed starred with bat and ball as Demerara crushed Essequibo by 124 runs in their opening round match of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/Hand-In-Hand Inter-County one-day tournament played yesterday at the Wales Community Centre Ground.
Alimohammed scored an unbeaten 53 with two fours and two sixes to help lift Demerara to 162-6 at the end of 38 overs in the rain affected encounter.
Earlier, rain stopped play for nearly two hours with Demerara 147-6 after 36.3 overs.
Spinner Miguel Jones creating a bit of problems for the batsmen, ending with 3 for 21.
Needing to score 181 for victory from 38 overs based on the Duckworth/Lewis calculations, Essequibo were dismissed for 56 in 28.4 overs with Alimohamed capturing 3-7, to crown a fine-all round effort.
However, the pick of the bowlers was Keshram Shabodan with 4-9 from a mere five overs while spinners Richie Looknauth (1-7) and Captain Travis Persaud (1-20) were also among the wickets.
AliMohammed struck a few deliveries into the first over, bowling opener Mark Williams for a duck as Essequibo lost their first batsman without any run on the board.
West Indies Under 19 vice-captain Keemo Paul (08) came in at number three got off the mark with a punch off the backfoot off Looknauth for four.
Alimohammed struck again removing the other opener Satish Latachana also without scoring, trapped leg before wicket while Paul was bowled by Looknauth attempting a big swing which left the visitors reeling at 18 for 3.
Not before long the score slipped to 20 for 4 after AliMohammed served up a beauty to remove Nathan Persaud (00) who was caught at mid-off by the skipper.
Shabodan the got into the action by landing a double blow, first producing a beauty to knock over the left-handed Sachin Persaud for 11 followed by Looknauth Chinkoo (00) who was out caught.
Next to go was Siddiq Mohammed who offered a bit of resistance before he fell to the skipper Persaud for 12. At 46 for 7 and with the wheels beginning to fall off, Essequibo then lost their final three wickets for runs after Demerara wasted little time in mopping up the tail.
Batting first, Demerara lost their first wicket for 19 when form openers Raymond Perez was caught off the bowling of Chinkoo (1-35) before he could get out of the blocks. Renee, the in-form opener continued his innings, cracking four boundaries before succumbing to Jones for a 35-ball 28.
With dark could hovering over the ground and two of their main batsmen this tournament back in the pavilion, Travis Persaud and Sherfane Rutherford then staged brief recovery. Persaud struck one four before be was trapped lbw for 14 by Jones but Rutherford, who has been aggressive throughout the inter-county tournament this year, thumped the Essequibo bowlers during his cameo.
The right-hander thumped two fours and three sixes in his 35-ball innings, taking a special linking to Sachin Persaud before Essequibo skipper Paul accounted for his wicket.
With their top-order back in the pavilion, Demerara were rescued by a mainstay innings from AliMohammed who had already hit two fours and a six but saw his the demise of his partners, Ramnarine Chatura and Kelvin Shewpersaud who were removed by Jones and left-arm spinner Akini Adams (1-16) respectively, for three runs apiece.
When rain stopped play at 12:40hrs AliMohammed had already accumulated some two fours and a six and when play resumed approximately two hours after the rain break, Demerara with two overs in hand, added just 15 runs to their total.
The second round continues on Wednesday.
