Demerara defeated Berbice by 56 runs at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground while the President’s XI marched to a six-wicket win over Essequibo at the Everest Cricket Club ground during the first round of the Guyana Cricket Board/ Dave West Indian Imports Under-15 Inter-County tournament yesterday.
Demerara won the toss and elected to bat, reaching 166-6 from their 50 overs before limiting the defending champions to 110 all out in their 50 overs.
Demerara started slowly and Jadon Campbell, who was dropped on 11 and Thaddeus Lovell with scores of 34 and 35 respectively, helped the team reach its eventual total.
Campbell stroked three boundaries and shared in a 45-run partnership with Mavindra Dindyal (22).
Lovell was fortunate to be dropped on 23 and he went on to hammer three boundaries during his innings.
The 12-year-old off-spinner, Matthew Pottaya, halted Demerara’s scoring in taking 4-27.
In reply, Demerara were very loose in the field, dropping five catches and missing three elementary run outs.
However, Berbice could not capitalize on the dismal fielding despite a 61-partnership in 27 overs between openers Rampertab Ramnaught and Ravishkar Sobhai (14).
When the two openers departed, the batting collapsed with only Damion Cecil (10) reaching double figures.
The pressure took its toll on the youngsters resulting in two run outs and two stumpings by Dindyal.
Off-spinner, Krsna Singh was the key to the bowling taking 3-14 from his 10 overs while Alvin Mohabir and Lovell took two wickets for 13 and eight runs respectively.
After the match, Demerara’s captain, Mohabir, said the team played badly despite the win. He noted that the batting failed after they had planned to make over 250 and the fielding was rusty.
Meanwhile in the other contest, after an hour’s delay due to equipment from Mashramani celebrations being left on the ground, the contest was reduced to 45 overs per side.
The President’s XI won the toss and sent Essequibo in to bat where they posted 116 all out in 42.1 overs. The President’s Xi duly reached target of 117 in 30.4 overs, losing four wickets along the way.
Essequibo found themselves at 56-8 after the two openers had shared a 33-run partnership. However, Aryan Doodnauth resisted with 26 consisting of three boundaries. No other batsman reached double figures.
The President’s XI were sloppy in the field, giving away 47 extras but 13-year-old off-spinner, Sachin Balgobin managed to return figures of 4-13 with support coming from leg-spinner, Nityanand Mathura who claimed 2-19.
In reply, a half century from Anthony Khan set the platform for the easy chase. Khan smashed eight boundaries before he was caught at long on.
The 14-year-old shared in a 60-run stand with Altave Balman (07) but captain, Terrence Softleigh removed the two openers along with Bhaskar Samlall to end with 3-19 with his left arm orthodox bowling..
Sanjay Algoo however, steered his side over the line with an unbeaten 35.
