Defending champions Berbice women moved one step closer to retaining their title in the Guyana Cricket Board Senior Female Inter-County T20 tournament after beating Demerara women by eight wickets yesterday at Everest Cricket Club while Essequibo women chalked up their first win in the second round.
Berbice won the toss and inserted Demerara who were contained to 74 for seven from their allotted 20 overs. Berbice then raced to 75 for two with 29 balls to spare.
Offspinner, Plaffina Millington pegged Demerara’s innings back with both containment and wickets. Her stifling bowling made scoring difficult for the Demerara’s openers and eventually had Mandy Mangru drawn out her crease only to be stumped for five. Mangru’s opening partner, Latoya Smith was then bowled in Millington’s following over as she ended with 3-10, earning her the Player-of-the-Match award.
Captain, Cherry-Ann Fraser was the only batter to reach double figures with 16 from 21 balls. Her innings featured one boundary, a powerful swat through cover off of left-arm spinner, Dian Prahalad, before she was run out. Prahalad, Erva Giddlings and Tremayne Smartt all picked up a wicket for Berbice.
Demerara contributed 17 extras to the total and coupled with sloppy fielding, which saw them spilling six catches, contributed to their defeat.
Fraser troubled the openers with her pace and movement off of the pitch and had a couple of catches put down off of her bowling.
Sherica Campbelle top scored with 26 from 37 balls and struck four boundaries. She added 47 for the first wicket with Katana Mentore before being caught at mid-on by Fraser off of Mangru (1-11).
Mentore steered her side over the line with 19 not out from 41 balls with Sheneta Grimmond at the other end supported with 12 not out. Shabika Gajnabi was the other batter to be dismissed, falling to Latisha Jordan (1-12).
Meanwhile, Essequibo women defeated the Select XI by 23 runs after posting 107 for four and limiting the Select XI to 84 for seven when their innings ended.
Skipper, Kumarie Persaud top scored with 43 from 37 balls. Her innings was highlighted by four boundaries and she shared in a 57-run opening stand with Navika Narine who made 10. No other batter reached double figures and extras aided Essequibo’s total with 28.
Niveena and Karishma Ramnauth as well as Jamie Campbell and Kimberley Sookdeo were among the wickets.
Nafeeza Sabar was the pick of Essequibo bowlers when the Select XI batted, taking 3-12 and getting support from Annalisa D’Aguiar (2-18).
Essequibo also were loose with their extras, gifting 29 of them. Sarah Amin top scored with 17 and Leah Kamalall made 12. They were the only batters to reach double digits.
The final round will be played tomorrow at Everest Cricket Club ground with Essequibo and Demerara facing off in the morning followed by Berbice and the Select XI clashing in the afternoon.
