It took title contenders Demerara just under 30 minutes on the final morning to secure a convincing nine-wicket outright win over Essequibo in round one of the Hand-in-Hand sponsored inter-county Under-19 three-day tournament at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) Ground, yesterday.
Scenes of the day saw Essequibo resuming the final morning on 155-9 with a lead of 23 runs. They were only able to add one run to their overnight score before being dismissed for 156 inside 61 overs.
Off-spinner Pradesh Ballkishun, who snared the final wicket to fall, ended with 4-22 from 10.1 overs while Joel Spooner, who engineered the early damage, finished with 6-54 and a match haul of 11-64 in his maiden Under-19 inter-county match.
Demerara needing 25 to complete the outright win, reached 25 for 1 in 4.3 overs with Robin Williams (18) and Sachin Singh (5) ending unbeaten to carry their side over the line. Adrian Hinds (2) was the man dismissed, trapped LBW by off-spinner Amit Persaud (1-11). Persaud ended the match with a haul of 7-80.
Scores in the match: Essequibo 75: (Orlando Jailall 27, Joel Spooner 5-10) and 156 (Jailall 60, Kevin Christian 49, Spooner 6-54, Pradesh Ballkishun 4-22) defeated by Demerara 207-9 (Alphius Bookie 51, Williams 42, Amit Persaud 6-69) and 25-1.
Round two bowls off tomorrow which will see Demerara taking on the Select Under-17 side at the GCC ground while Berbice and Essequibo will be locked in battle at Lusignan.
