Johnathan Foo slammed a scorching ton while Veerasammy Permaul and Raun Johnson shared nine wickets as Lower Corentyne claimed first day bragging rights over Essequibo in yesterday’s opening round of the Guyana Cricket Board Jaguars Franchise League three-day tournament.
Originally scheduled to be played at the Wales Community Centre ground, the match was shifted to the Tuschen Cricket Ground and despite some slight concerns after some parts of the ground were a bit soggy, play bowled off at 12:45hrs.
Captain Permaul, the left-arm spinner snatched 5-23 while Johnson, the tall fast-bowler extracted good bounce and pace to bag 4-30 as Essequibo crumbled to 101 all out inside 35 overs.
Spinner Anthony Adams showing his worth with the bat with the top-score of 33.
At stumps, Lower Corentyne were 173-2 from 32.1 overs, a healthy first innings lead of 72.
Foo, who is notorious for scoring at an alarming rate in any format of cricket, breezed to 106 not out after thumping the Essequibo bowlers for a total of 10 fours and seven sixes.
Foo and Gajanand Singh (25*) will resume their innings today. Berbice lost openers Devon Clement (13) and Kandasammy Surujnarine (23) but hardly missed them as Foo mauled the opposition.
Most if not all the aggressive strokes from Foo’s bat were pure timing while the more solid Singh sought to play the rearguard role.
The mixture eventually took a toll on their opponents who were basically bashed about the ground.
Foo’s ton came from just 57 balls (although it seemed a bit less) and by stumps, which was pushed to 18:00hrs after the late start, Permaul’s men were already sensing a big win heading into day two.
Earlier, Berbice pacers Johnson and Niall Smith (1-4) operated with good discipline during the opening session and utilized the lavish sea breeze pushing in from the nearby Essequibo River to pick up their victims.
Left-hander Royan Fredericks (02) was the first to depart, bowled by Johnson after playing an irregular shot.
The dangerous Kevon Boodie struck two fours before he was trapped lbw by the right-arm pacer Smith for 12 while Ricardo Peters (10) became Johnson’s second wicket after changing ends.
All-rounder Ricardo Adams (04) was Permaul’s first wicket and he immediately bagged another wicket when Avinash Persaud (00) attempted a big shot only to be caught by Johnson on the midwicket boundary.
At 31-5, Essequibo had already lost their top-order but Adams and Parmesh Parsotam (24) dug in to help bail their side out of trouble.
Adams looked like a top-order batter as he assessed the situation carefully before smacking the first two sixes of the Essequibo innings, the first off spinner Kassim Khan and the second off Sharaz Ramcharran which sailed out of the ground.
However, Permaul would soon account for the wicket of Parsotam who was comprehensively bowled while Johnson had the top-scorer pinned leg before wicket.
The lower-order’s resistance was futile as none of the tail enders managed to reach five, allowing the likes of Permaul and Johnson to run amok as they seized control of the match.
