As the curtain comes down on the SBF Petroleum/Cricket Guyana Incorporated Jaguars 50-over Franchise League, two teams remain in contention for the title but defending champions, Essequibo, already has one hand on the trophy ahead of today’s final round.
After six rounds, Essequibo are on 25 points, trailed closely by Lower Corentyne with 20 points.
West Demerara and West Berbice are locked on 19 points each while Upper Corentyne and East Bank Demerara have 14 points.
Of the remaining teams Georgetown has five and East Coast Demerara are yet to score a point. Mathematically these teams have fallen out of the title race.
Essequibo will face East Bank at Everest and will no doubt be going into the contest as favourites. They have played consistent cricket as a unit with Kemol Savory leading the way with bat in hand.
The 23-year-old has scored 291 runs with three half centuries from six matches. He has been well supported by the unsung hero of the team, Quentin Sampson, who has scored 237 runs with runs coming at crucial moments in the game.
Meanwhile, with the ball their left-arm spin army has done the job for them led by Ricardo Adams who leads the wicket-taking column with 19 wickets along with 109 runs.
The skipper, Anthony Adams has also been effective with both bat and ball, scoring 122 runs to go along with his 12 wickets.
In the seam department, Ronsford Beaton has set fire under the selectors’ chair for a national recall with pace and bounce that earned him eight wickets in his three innings including a brutal 5-18 against Georgetown.
A win will see them retaining the title but they could have their work cut out for them with East Bank reinforcing their team with Sherfane Rutherford.
Despite not living up to expectations, East Bank, on paper features a decent team that can on any given day upstage teams. Trevon Griffith has made inroads with a century but has not pushed on in the other innings from positive starts as he sits on just over 200 runs in the tournament. Vishaul Singh has been nearly the same with 198 runs inclusive of two fifties. The likes of Sachin Singh and Ronaldo Ali Mohamed, both potent all-rounders, have not yet fired in this competition.
Left-arm spinner, Trevon France has led the way with the ball, taking 13 wickets but with the others struggling, Griffith has filled the gap with nine wickets.
Contrastingly, Lower Corentyne will have all to play for when they face Upper Corentyne at Cumberland.
The require a win including a bonus point, which is earned by beating a team by 1.25 times their run rate and rely on East Bank to beat Essequibo in an effort to lift the crown.
Lower Corentyne has relied heavily on the services of Jonathan Foo who is the tournament’s leading run-getter and the only player with more than 300 runs. The 29-year-old looked content to see out impactful bowlers and destroy the bad balls, chalking up three 80 plus scores in six innings.
He has provided guidance for West Indies youth team-bound Kevlon Anderson. The youngster has score 231 runs and together they have accounted for 62 percent of Lower Corentyne’s runs.
Their bowling department has been one dimensional with seamer, Nial Smith standing head and shoulders above the rest with 15 wickets. Left-arm spinners, Veerasammy Permaul and Kelvin Umroa have taken 10 wickets each.
In the face of that, Upper Corentyne is not expected to roll over without a fight especially with Anthony Bramble and Clinton Pestano in the set up.
Both West Demerara and West Berbice can eagerly await a decent end to their tournament run when they face each other at Tuschen. A win with a bonus point will not be enough for either team to dethrone Essequibo but that could see them finishing second if Lower Corentyne loses their match. East Coast, like Georgetown, will want to cap off their poor season with a win when they meet at Lusignan.
