Demerara and Berbice locked in Inter-county Under-19 battle
President XI’s Avishkar Sewkarran is closely watched by the Essequibo wicketkeeper, as he strokes the ball through the off-side during his first-innings ton last Monday.
President XI’s Avishkar Sewkarran is closely watched by the Essequibo wicketkeeper, as he strokes the ball through the off-side during his first-innings ton last Monday.

… Essequibo fight back

THANKS to another half-century, this time unbeaten from wicketkeeper-batsman Kemol Savory, defending champions Demerara were able to garner first-innings points from Berbice, in their Guyana Cricket Board Inter-county Under-19 fixture at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground yesterday.At the close of play, Berbice, who conceded a first-innings lead of 54 to Demerara, were 103 for 3 off 52 overs, for a lead of 49 runs heading into today’s final day play, with Viendra Gooniah and David Latchaya unbeaten on 35 and 27 respectively.
At the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) ground, Essequibo, who resumed the day on nine without loss in response to President XI’s 332 all out, of which Avishkar Sewkarran stroked 109, Ronaldo Ali Mohammed 75 and Ryan Shun 70, were bowled out for 234 – conceding a lead of 98 runs, but struck back to reduce their opponents to 112 for 6 at the close of play.
At GCC, Demerara resumed yesterday’s penultimate day on 70 for 2 in response to Berbice’s 140. Balchand Baldeo (27), Shimron Hetmyer (24), Gooniah (22) and Arif Chan (18) were the leading scorers, with Tagenarine Chanderpaul on 18 and Rudolph Singh 1.
They pushed the score to 94, before Singh was lbw to Shiraz Ramcharran for 14. After Chanderpaul posted the 100 with a six over midwicket off Chan, he was brilliantly caught by a leaping Niall Smith at mid-off, when he looked to hit Parmanand Ramdhan over that area.
Chanderpaul departed for 32 (137 balls, 3×4, 1×6), leaving Demerara on 116 for 4, which soon became 137 for 8 as they lost Shurfane Rutherford 16 (1×4, 1×6), Malcolm Hubbard (6), Steven Sankar (0) and first-innings destroyer with the ball, Keon Morris (1).
Meanwhile Savory was stroking the ball around, picking up the singles coupled with the odd boundaries. Together with Daniel Basdeo they steered their side to first innings points and a safe position of 153 for 8 at lunch, with Savory on 21 and Basdeo 8.
After the break, Demerara lost Basdeo lbw to Ramdhan for 9, but his departure enabled Savory to post 34 valuable runs for the final wicket with Kevin Paul (4), as he realised his second successive half-century following the one he scored in the first round against Essequibo, from 91 balls with seven fours.
Shortly after, Kevin Paul was lbw to Grisean Grant (2 for 36) for 4, leaving Savory unbeaten on 56 (109 balls, 134 minutes 7×4), as Demerara took the lead in the face of Ramdhan’s 3 for 33 and Ramcharran’s 3 for 37.
In their 11 overs before the tea break, Berbice lost Shimron Hetmyer (4) who pulled a short ball from Basdeo, straight into the waiting hands of Renaldo Renee at deep squareleg, taking the break on 25 for 1 with Gooniah on 6 and Balchand Baldeo 13.
They lost Baldeo 26 (2×4) and Ramcharran (7) after the break to be 55 for 3, but an unbroken 48-run partnership between Latchaya, who pulled Kevin Paul for four after surviving a torrid spell from Sankar and Gooniah, saw them to safety at the close of play.
On the opening day, Morris ended with 4-42 and Basdeo claimed 2-25, as the Berbicians struggled on the track when play got under way in the second session after seepage cancelled play for the entire morning session.
At DCC, Essequibo began the day on 9 without loss, after off-spinner Akil Wallace ( 5 for 96) and Kemo Paul with 2-54 had restricted the President’s XI and saw Avenash Persaud 85 (99 balls, 13×4, 2×6), Travis Drakes 28 (2×4, 3×6) and Ryan Adams 21 (2×6), enable a spirited reply.
It was much better than the batting display they put on against Demerara in the first round, as they fell short of the President’s XI total by 98 runs, thanks to the bowling of Shun who took 3 for 18, backed by Ershad Ali, Travis Persaud and Vivian Albert, who took two wickets each for 29, 36 and 39 runs respectively.
However, Keanu Harry fought back gallantly for the Essequibians, to reduce their opponents in their second innings, picking up 2 for 11, while Wallace snared 2 for 45, in the face of Sunil Singh’s resilient 53, with Shivnarine Srikissoon and Albert unbeaten on 6 and 4 at the close.

(By Calvin Roberts)

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.