… Essequibo, Berbice face off in final tomorrow

BERBICE bowlers ran through Georgetown-Mahaicony Combined line-up to post an easy 90-run win in the second semifinal in the Combined Phase of the National Secondary Schools cricket tournament yesterday at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground.
The win means that Berbice Combined will face Essequibo Combined in the final tomorrow at the same venue.

Berbice Combined left-arm spinners Nigel Deodat and Kelvin Umroa were the main architects in the run chase, as the hosts were bowled out for 94 in 33.2 overs.
Deodat finished with 3-18 while Umroa had 2-13. Seon Glasgow, Kelvon Anderson and Leon Swammy contributed a wicket each in the run chase of 184 made by Berbice Combined.
Earlier, the visitors’ innings was built around opener Jason Sinclair’s 61 and Garfield Benjamin 46. The 16-year-old Sinclair shared in two meaningful partnerships as Berbice made 184 all out in the final over of the innings.
Put in to bat, the visitors got off to a relatively slow but steady start, as the new ball proved lively, prompting several close calls against openers Sinclair and Alex Algoo.
The pair brought up their 50-run stand off 69 balls, before it was broken by left-arm spinner Daniel Mootoo when he had Algoo stumped for 20.
Sinclair was joined by Benjamin and the pair marched on comfortably. Sinclair began to blossom in a more attacking approach, reaching his half-century off 62 balls.
The duo got Berbice Combined past the 100-run mark in the 25th over, but their fears of yet again wasting a strong foundation resurfaced when Sinclair’s 76-ball innings came to an end to a top-edge catch off Dwayne Dick, at 105-2. Sinclair hit five fours and a six.
Sinclair’s dismissal brought Anderson to the crease, and the third-wicket partnership quickly gained some momentum before Anderson was caught and bowled off left-arm spinner Ashmead Nedd for 15.

Thereafter the hosts’ spinners to their credit had been good with their bowling, not allowing the visitors to score freely, and the remaining batsmen failed to build on the solid foundation, as they lost their last seven wickets for just 37 runs, including Benjamin.
Nedd and off-spinner Pradesh Balkishun did much of the damage, claiming 3-22 each. Dick and Mootoo had 2-35 and 1-15 respectively.
Medium pacer Swammy then set the tone for a tough run chase with a sensational opening spell of bowling in which he had opener Alphius Bookie (0) caught behind off the outside edge, at 3-1.
Swammy was unlucky not to remove the other opener Sachin Singh after wicketkeeper Sinclair floored a regulation catch when Singh was on six..
However, Singh and Stephon Wilson then added 45 runs for the second wicket before left-arm spinner Umroa made two timely inroads, removing both Wilson (31) and Singh (21).
Things went from bad to worse for the hosts, with the last seven wickets falling for 30 runs. Only Balkishun (25) offered some resistance.
Tomorrow’s final is scheduled to start at 09:30hrs.