-Upper Corentyne gave away 86 extras in loss to West Berbice
Georgetown defeated West Demerara by 29 runs while West Berbice, Essequibo and Lower Corentyne notched victories as the Guyana Cricket Board Female 17-and-under T20 Franchise got underway yesterday.
At the Everest Cricket Club, the first match was reduced to 15 overs per side with West Demerara winning the toss and opting to field.
The females were impressive given their usually sub-par preparation as Georgetown posted 84-2 from their allotted overs. Their opening pair Althea Barnwell and Neiva Singh shared in a 74-run stand before Singh was caught at cover for 21. Barnwell went on to top score with 34 inclusive of two boundaries. West Demerara did well to limit their extras to 25.
In reply, 13-year-old seamer Arehanna Persaud bowled well to restrict West Demerara to 55-5. The Grade Eight student of Queen’s College bagged 3-8 in her three overs.
Kezie Methland resisted with a decent unbeaten knock of 21.
In the second match at the venue, defending champions, Essequibo got off to a dream start with a 10-wicket haul victory over East Bank.
Seasoned campaigners, Lisa Charles (2-15), Annalisa D’Aguiar (2-14), Lavina Rahgubeer (2-8) and Divine Ross (2-11) made light work of the inexperienced side. Alexis Noel looked settled with three boundaries in her 22-run top score batting at seven before popping a return catch to D’Aguiar. Extras accounted for 21 runs.
In response, D’Aguiar returned to smash five boundaries on her way to 26 not out while her opening partner, Navika Narine made 24 not out as they reached 62 without loss in nine overs.
Meanwhile, over in Berbice at the Cumberland ground, West Berbice narrowly defeated Upper Corentyne by nine runs.
Batting first, West Berbice posted 138-1 in their allotted overs compliments of 86 extras. Tieh Isaacs contributed 31 not out while Tamara George chipped in with 16 not out as the pair added 105 for the second wicket.
In reply, Alicia Fordyce stifled the scoring of Upper Corentyne who finished on 129-6 from their allotted overs, taking 3-25 in her four overs. However, the other bowlers were loose, giving away 94 extras. Shania King and Alelia Mendonca both made 11.
In the final match Lower Corentyne scampered to a two-wicket win over East Coast. East Coast made 78 in 19 overs batting first. Their innings was marred by five run outs with only skipper, Sarah Amin reaching double figures with 17 not out. Jamie Campbell picked up 3-12. In the chase, Lower Corentyne raced to 78-8 in 15 overs despite four run outs.
