Guyana Jaguars skipper Leon Johnson returned to his fluent best striking a crafty century which spearheaded Georgetown’s 141-run victory over East Bank yesterday at Bourda in the fifth round action of the SBF Petroleum Jaguars One-Day League.
The triumph was the City side’s first of the tournament, having lost their four previous matches.
Georgetown, after winning the toss and electing to bat, posted a daunting 292-6 from their allotted overs. Openers Winston Forrester (25) and Joshua Persaud (24) added 54 to lay an ideal foundation. Both men were dismissed in quick succession which paved the way for Johnson’s knock.
The left-hander joined forces with Raymond Perez (27) and added 101 for the fourth wicket to build on the earlier foundation.
Johnson, during that time grafted well, ran well between the wicket and dispatched the odd boundary to work his way back into form.
His innings lasted 107 deliveries and included nine sweetly-timed boundaries.
Johnson also shared in a 90-run stand with Christopher Barnwell who smacked three fours and three sixes during a purposeful knock of 49 to complement Johnson’s finest.
The right-handed Barnwell was dismissed by Sherfane Rutherford (1-69) whom he swatted for a huge maximum with the ball prior while Johnson fell to Kishan Singh (2-52).
Ovid Richardson (12) and Jeremiah Scott (17) produced cameos at the end to carry the score eight runs shy of the 300 run mark.
East Coast, in response, began like a house on fire with Trevon Griffith (20) going all guns blazing before being dismissed by Barnwell (1-22) with the score on 22-1.
His demise brought skipper Vishaul Singh to the crease, joining Sachin Singh and the began the repair mission. They took the score to 49, adding 27 runs before the latter was bowled by Johnson for 17.
Rutherford (5) who joined Vishaul Singh at the crease, perished nine runs later, falling to Qumar Torrington which left his side in a spot of bother. They slipped further into the dungeons when Ashmead Nedd outfoxed Ronaldo Ali Mohammed (0) to leave the score on 64-4 as Vishaul Singh watched wickets tumble at the other end.
Matthew Nandu (3) also fell in quick succession. The game at this point became painstaking to watch as Singh (60 not out) from 121 balls and Yeudisteer Persaud (40 not out) batted the remaining over, aimlessly it seemed to carry the score on 151-5.
Nedd finished with figures of 1-14 from his 10 overs while Steven Sankar (1-26) was also economical.
Meanwhile, in the other encounter played in Region Four, West Demerara defeated East Coast by 84 runs at Enmore.
West Demerara batted first and posted 198-7 from their allotted 50 overs with Tagenarine Chanderpaul striking an innings of 77.
Romario Shepherd (41) chipped in.
Asif Singh (2-32) ended as the chief wicket-taker for East Bank who in response, folded for 114 in 39.5 overs.
Malcolm Hubbard nabbed 5-32 to wreck the innings as Keshram Seyhodan (3-15) supported.
