Seven minutes of rain was enough to end proceedings at the Albion Community Centre ground, Berbice and hand Lower Corentyne a 38-run win over East Bank via Duckworth Lewis and Stern Method in the opening round of the SBF/ Cricket Guy Inc. Jaguars 50-over Franchise League yesterday.
Amidst scorching sun, Lower Corentyne were asked to bat and posted 170 in 41.1 overs but with lunch coming over an hour late and two rain interruptions totaling seven minutes, East Bank were forced to end their chase on 112-8 in 27.3 overs.
A top order collapse, highlighted by a second ball duck from Sachin Singh and a spirited 16-run cameo from Trevon Griffith, who had smashed four boundaries before walking down the wicket to Nial Smith (4-48) only to have his stumps scattered saw East Bank at one point being 43-4.
Despite that, the chase was almost even throughout the innings with East Bank skipper, Vishaul Singh, piloting the chase despite wickets tumbling around him.
The left-hander stood head-and-shoulders above his teammates as he battled for nearly two hours in his 64-ball 38. His innings was decorated with four boundaries and the ability to shelter the lower order.
Following Smith’s double strike in the 13th over to remove under-17 batsmen, Mavindra Dindyal (15) and Matthew Nandu (0), the out-of-favour West Indies test batsman, Singh, forged a fifth-wicket stand of 34 with the flamboyant Ronaldo Ali-Mohamed who also stroked four boundaries in his 17-ball 24 before pushing for a second run that saw both batsmen ending up at the striker’s end.
Earlier, Lower Corentyne suffered a similar experience but were dragged to their troubling total by a Man-of-the-Match performance from their captain, Jonathan Foo.
Foo was forced to dig deep as left-arm spinner, Trevon France rocked the middle order trapping both Seon Hetmyer (1) and Martin Singh (0) leg before wicket in 18th over to end with 4-25.
France also accounted for the wicket of Kevlon Anderson (16) who was bowled behind his back attempting to sweep the spinner and Jason Sinclair who was bowled through the gate.
Foo’s performance showed his maturity among a fairly young side as they were reduced to 49-4 before the captain and Trevon Stanislaus (26) added 52 for the fifth wicket.
The discarded national player, in his 144-minute innings, hammered seven fours and single six over mid-wicket as he raced to 83 from 86 balls before holing out to Matthew Nandu and end the innings.
Following the match, Foo told Stabroek Sport, even though the match went in their favour, it was unfortunate for the opposition the way the match ended and was unfair.
Nevertheless, Foo said while wickets tumbled he was not bothered but knew he had to bat deep to get his side off to a good start in the competition.
Meanwhile, East Bank Manager, Rohan Sarjoo expressed his frustration with the result of the match, stating, “It is not fair for us to take the loss when the venue doesn’t have covers and a little drizzle ended our chase.”
Sarjoo explained that the match could have been completed had it not been for an hour’s delay in the lunch that forced the match to go beyond the rain.
He was adamant that there must be adequate facilities in order to have cricket played at this level across the country.
Meanwhile, further up the road at the Port Mourant Community Center, West Demerara benefited from the rain to defeat Upper Corentyne by nine wickets.
The match was reduced to 43 overs as Upper Corentyne won the toss and elected to bat. National Youth opener, Alex Algoo played the lone hand with 63 from 98 balls with of five boundaries before popping a return catch to Travis Persaud.
Despite Algoo’s hanf century, Upper Corentyne only managed 124 in 36.2 overs as only Kandasammy Surujnarine (10) and Ritish Umroa (21) reached double figures. Trevon Hector dismantled the lower order to end with 3-12 with Richie Looknauth and Keshram Seyhodan ended with two wickets a piece.
In reply, West Demerara were cruising at 75-1 before rain interrupted play and set them a revised target of 105 in 35 overs. The visitors then raced to 107-1 in 28.5 overs. Skipper, Tagenarine Chanderpaul was unbeaten on 46 alongside Tevin Imlach who was on 21 not out. Renaldo Renee was the only batsman to be dismissed for 27.
