A small Easter Sunday crowd, yesterday witnessed two quality innings from the Demerara Cricket Club’s Alphius Bookie and Sanjay Stanley of the US-based Tri-State Club in the final round of the GCA/American Youth Premier Cricket League Under-19 Cricket Competition.
Bookie at the start of the day, stuck a beautifully composed century to guide hosts DCC past Sanjay’s Tri-State by 47 runs.
DCC, after winning the toss and electing to bat, reached 277-7 from their allotted 50 overs with Bookie carving out 110.
The elegant right-hander struck eight fours and six sixes, one of which brought up his three-figure landmark.
He also shared in two crucial partnerships with opener Brandon Jaikaran (57) who produced a fine knock at the top of the order. That union yielded 84 runs after which the century maker shared in a 99-run stand with Garrick Persaud (26) which propelled the host to the commanding total.
Seamer Abhayjit Khangura (3-34) was the pick of the bowlers for Tri-State who in response, made a fist of it, reaching 230 before being dismissed in the 47thover.
Skipper Stanley (92) produced a knock which mirrored Bookie’s as he too found the gaps with delightful precision to record seven eye-catching fours before being the last man dismissed, agonizingly short of his century.
Tri State’s opening pair Ishwan Bansal (25) and Saiteja Mukkamalla (21) were also pleasing to the eyes during their opening stand of 58 as Nkosi Beaton (2-22), Jafar Pinder (2-34) and Bookie (2-47) combined for six wickets to bowl DCC to victory.
In the other fixtures, Transport Sports Club (TSC) defeated Everest by six wickets to shore up their semi-final chances.
Everest batting first, were dismissed for 135 in 29 overs with Ariel Pilku (48) top scoring.
Everest was rocketed by Riyad Latif who nabbed 5-8 from six overs while being supported by Akeem Clarke (3-33) and Adrian Hinds (2-33)
TSC in response, reached 137-4 in 19.5 overs to complete the win with Jamal Michael (54) recording a half-century while Hinds (37) was also among the runs. Ushardeva Balgobin (2-29) and Ronald Mohamed (2-33) ticked the wickets column for Everest.
Over at Malteenoes, the hosts recorded an 88-run win over the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) on the back of a searing spell of seam bowling from Ntini Permaul.
As the script went, Malteenoes batted first and compiled 215 before being dismissed in the 45thover. Skipper Jeremiah Scott (36) top-scored while Wayne Bollers (28) and Permaul (28) chipped in.
Lester Cupidore (2-46) ended as the chief wicket-taker for GCC who were bundled out for 127 inside 37 overs with Permaul, who got the ball to swing, grabbing 7-24 to rip the life out of GCC’s run-chase. Only Andsugga Rodriguez (28) and Rivaldo Phillips (17) mustered any resistance.