Demerara skipper and West Indies pacer Cherry-Ann Fraser had an excellent day with the ball yesterday afternoon at the Malteenoes Sports Club Ground, grabbing four wickets as her side dismissed defending champions of the GCB Women’s Inter-County T20 competition, Berbice, for a paltry 34 before chasing it down, albeit with some hiccups to lift this year’s title.
Fraser’s day began perfectly, making the right call at the toss, and inserting Berbice to bat. She, as usual, opened the bowling but did not make an instant impact. However, in the second over, Berbice’s woes began as Cristal Durant (1) was trapped LBW by Nidla Andrews leaving the defending champions on 4/1.
In the third over, the party really started for Fraser with a double strike; first she had Realanna Grimmond LBW for 1 off the first delivery of her over before bowling the dangerous Shabika Gajnabi (1) four deliveries later to leave Berbice in dire straits at 5/3 by the end of the third over.
With Berbice skipper Shemaine Campbell and the experienced Sheneta Grimmond at the crease by now, the next over saw them both indulge in a four off of Andrews, but the latter would have the last laugh, trapping Campbell (5) LBW, allowing no let up for Berbice.
Fraser returned for her third over and the fifth of the innings with the score at 17/4. By the end of her over, another double strike had been dealt to Berbice. On her second delivery, Fraser had Grimmond (5) caught before flummoxing Ashmini Munisar, bowling her for a four-ball duck to break the back of the Berbicians batting order.
At 18/6 in six overs, there was really no way back for the Berbicians.
Tiea Isaacs was run out for an eight-ball nought while Letisha Jordan accounted for Tricia Hardat, Niya Latchman had Tamar George (1) caught and Kaycia Schultz trapped Dannellie Manns for a 12-ball duck, leaving Plaffiana Millington stranded on 9 not out as the Berbicians folded for 34 in 15 overs.
Fraser’s pair of double-strikes earned her 4/9 (4 overs) while Andrews picked up 2/12 (3 overs) with Jordan, Schultz and Latchman taking a wicket each.
With just 35 needed for victory, Demerara almost made a muck of the run-chase as the Berbician bowlers tried to stage an upset for the ages.
Sitting on 9/3 in the fifth over at one stage, the Demerara girls eventually made it home with five wickets to spare in 13.2 overs.
Berbice’s frontline spinner, Ashmini Munisar had the in-form Mandy Mangru (1) stumped with the score at just 5 while Gajnabi rapped Naomi Barkoye (1) accurately on the pads to send her back to the dressing room in the fourth over. Two wickets down with just 9 runs on the board became 9/3 as Plaffiana Millington had Tilleya Madramootoo (4) caught. Two more wickets would fall, putting the Demerara bench in a pinch as Fraser (3) and Cianna Barkoye (3) were run out with an additional 15 runs needed for victory.
In the face of an inspired Berbician side, the experienced Kaycia Schultz played a patient innings with Andrews as her partner, to eventually guide their side home without further trouble.
Schultz ended unbeaten on 10 from 20 deliveries while Andrews was not out on 3 (14 balls) to hand their side a hard-earned victory.
For her part with the ball, Fraser was named player of the match leading her side to what most deemed as an upset.
With both the 50-overs and T20 competitions concluded, the GCB selectors are expected to name the Guyana squad which is slated to leave Guyana on March 1 for St Kitts where the regional tournament will be held.
After the match, Berbice were presented with their 50-over competition trophy while Demerara collected their T20 title.
Poor batting was a hallmark of the competitions with a substantial gap between the two traditional powerhouses Demerara, Berbice and Essequibo, who at times looked as though they were simply making up the numbers.
In an invited comment to Stabroek Sports, GCB’s Cricket Operations Manager, Anthony D’Andrade noted; “We didn’t get the scores we would have liked to see during the tournament especially from the senior players recently returning from a CWI senior encampment”.
A telling statement.
