In fading light, West Demerara’s Tagenarine Chanderpaul scored a century to lead his side to a six-run win over Lower Corentyne at Cumberland yesterday in the fifth round of the SBF Petroleum/Cricket Guy Inc., Jaguars Franchise League.
Set an imposing 251 to win, West Demerara scampered to 234-8 after 47.2 overs when Chanderpaul was bowled for 105 and the umpires stopped the match, declaring the Region Three side the winners on the Duckworth, Lewis and Stern method.
The win means Lower Corentyne falls behind defending champions, Essequibo, who have 25 points, five ahead of the Berbice side heading into the next round.
Chanderpaul showed he was a cut above the rest, moving from 50 from 98 balls to 105 in 123 balls. His mature knock was decorated with six fours and four sixes, all of which were rocketed over the mid-wicket boundary.
The 23-year-old worked the ball on the ground and through the covers mostly off the seamers while executing excellent wristwork against the spinners but was particularly belligerent against left-arm spinner, Veerasammy Permaul who was smacked for three sixes towards the end of the innings.
The West Indies A opener constructed healthy partnerships despite falling behind the par score in the first half of the chase.
His opening partner, Ronaldo Renee (18) shared in a 51-run stand from 99 balls before he was bowled attempting a sweep but his demise brought Tevin Imlach (34) to the crease.
The two former West Indies youth players rotated the strike well with Imlach being the more aggressive. He struck four fours and a six which was hit over long on that was followed by his dismissal.
Notwithstanding four dropped catches, Lower Corentyne brought themselves back in the contest with two quick wickets including those of Romario Shepherd (04) and Raymon Reifer (20) as they slipped to 134-4 in the 36th over.
Malcolm Hubbard played a 13-ball 25 that brought West Demerara back in the game. However, a seventh-wicket stand of 54 from 40 balls between the Chanderpaul and Travis Persaud (16) propelled the once runners-up into a decent position and ultimately the match at 17:36 hours.
Left-arm spinner, Kelvin Umroa and Jonathan Foo took two wickets each for 45 and 44 runs respectively.
Earlier, Foo chalked up his third half century and in the process shared a 144-run second wicket partnership with Kevlon Anderson.
Foo scored 84 from 79 balls, highlighted by six fours and five sixes, two of which were launched onto Coburg Street over the sight screen and two more into the mid-wicket boundary as he took on off-spinner, Richie Looknauth.
Meanwhile, Anderson looked set to score a century but popped a simple return catch to left-arm seamer, Reifer, who ended with 3-46. Anderson’s 130-ball innings featured six fours and one six.
Only Maxie De Jonge (17) and Nial Smith (10 not out) reached double figures while Shepherd returned 2-46.
