A sterling batting effort headlined by Johnathan Foo’s 152 and another career 10-wicket haul from skipper Veerasammy Permaul helped Lower Corentyne surge to an innings and 122-run win over Essequibo with an entire day’s play remaining in round one of the Jaguars Franchise League three-day tourney yesterday.
After being rattled for 101 in their first innings, Essequibo then folded for a paltry 159 from 36-odd overs chasing a mountainous 281 to make Lower Corentyne, who racked up 382 in their first innings, bat again.
The out-of-favor West Indies left-arm Test spinner Permaul, opened the season with returns of 10-80 after claiming 5-23 in the first innings and 5-57 in the second.
In a match where officials almost ran out of balls after a total of 28 sixes which either ventured into nearby yards or the trenches were hit, a good portion of cricket fans from the nearby communities witnessed a batting spectacle from Foo and company.
The Jamaica Tallawahs player’s career best three-day score lit up the Tuschen Ground. He struck 13 fours and 12 towering sixes which was a blend of power and sheer timing.
Former West Indies U19 batsman Gajanand Singh stroked a stylish 52 and shared dominant third wicket stand of 183 with Foo while some late hitting from David Latchaya who smoked a 50-ball 68 with seven fours and five sixes helped Lower Corentyne to a daunting total.
Brothers and spinners alike, Akinie (5-41) and Anthony Adams (3-112) were the chief wicket-takers for the Ronsford Beaton led Essequibo who lost their way and will need to regroup ahead of round two which bowls off next Friday.
In Essequibo’s second innings, openers Royan Fredericks (28) and Kevon Boodie (16) looked solid during their stand of 33. They began cautiously as pacers Niall Smith and Raun Johnson asked a lot of questions with the new ball as they did in the first innings.
The left-hand/right-hand combination worked well when the pair had settled in as they played a number of classy drives and pulls to accumulate their boundaries.
Permaul was greeted with a six from the right-handed Boodie which sailed back over his head and out the ground but the experienced spinner shrugged off the hit to place himself on a hat trick by removing both Boodie and Ricardo Peters (00) in successive balls.
The introduction of off-spinner Sharaz Ramcharran paid off as he rewarded his captain with the wicket of Fredericks who was caught in the deep.
Parmesh Parsoram (08) soon followed and while Beaton was probably hoping for some inspiration by one of his men, in walked Ricardo Adams who muscled four fours and five sixes in his quick-fire 61.
Much like Foo, the left-hand Adams is a renowned bully more so in the shorter formats and his counterattack saw him race to 30 from just 12 balls with a flurry of boundaries which briefly stabilized Essequibo’s innings.
Avinash Persaud (18) clobbered Johnson for a six through mid-wicket, followed by a glance for four to raise 100 runs for the Cinderella County boys.
By then, Adams had already reached his 50 off just 21 balls with a six off Permaul which disappeared into a nearby yard just a few feet away from the ground.
Johnson, who had two chances off his bowling put down at slip, missed out on what would have been his third wicket when Persaud was given a life by his fellow new-ball partner Smith at mid-wicket.
Persaud’s luck ran out shortly after when he was caught behind off Ramcharran who broke the fifth wicket 68-run stand.
The breakthrough Lower Corentyne were hoping for came when part time spinner Gajanand Singh is his first over, tossed up a full toss which was enough to tempt Adams into a huge shot only to pick out the fielder who was positioned perfectly on the midwicket boundary.
Tea came and went and when play resumed Lower Corentyne would mop up the Essequibo tail-enders well before stumps.
Resuming earlier in the day on 106 and 25 respectively, Foo and Singh picked up from where they left off on the first day as they piled on a truck load of runs on day two.
No bowler was spared as the former Guyana T20 star Foo got off the mark with an effortless six and got to his 150 off just 97 deliveries, getting to that milestone with another maximum.
Singh also opened up and reached his 50 before the partnership was broken by Anthony Adams who removed both batsmen.
The aggression trickled down as Latchaya walked out and played the “shots of the match”, three consecutive sixes which landed in a nearby backyard off Beaton before he became Looknauth Chinkoo’s (1-29) victim.
With the big guns back in the stands, Ramcharran (15), wicketkeeper Akeem Hinds (10) and Permaul (02) all fell cheaply before lunch while Adams Brothers mopped up the tail without any problems.L/Corentyne to huge win
