Essequibo on the ropes against President’s XI
Well done, Ryan! President’s XI batsman Ryan Ramdass acknowledges the applause of his teammates, after posting his half-century. (Photos by Adrian Narine)
Well done, Ryan! President’s XI batsman Ryan Ramdass acknowledges the applause of his teammates, after posting his half-century. (Photos by Adrian Narine)

… Berbice and Demerara strive for first innings points

PERENNIAL whipping boys of local cricket Essequibo were up against the ropes against a determined President’s XI lineup, at the end of the first day of action in the second round of the Guyana Cricket Board/Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company/Hand-in-Hand four-team tournament yesterday.Playing at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground, where the third-placed President’s XI won the toss and opted to field first, Essequibo plunged into dismay when they reached 38 for 5 within the first hour of play, thanks to some incisive fast bowling from Seon Daniels (3 for 31) and Andre Stoll (4 for 34), before being bowled out for 104 after lunch.
A rearguard sixth-wicket partnership which garnered 37 valuable runs for Essequibo between Kemo Paul 22 (2×6, 1×4) and Parsram Parsotam, brought some respectability to their total as they reach 80 for 6 at lunch, with Parsotam on 14 and Ricardo Peters 4.
This was after Royan Fredericks (4), Ekmauth Persaud (1), Dillon Heyliger (6), skipper Anthony Adams (1) and Kevon Boodie 18 (2×4, 1×6) were sent packing by Daniels who had figures of 3 for 31 and Stoll 2 for 20 at lunch.
They catapulted one hour after lunch, as Stoll dismissed Parsotam for 19 and Mark Gonsalves (2), while national Under-19 leg-spinner Steven Sankar removed Peters who added five to his lunchtime score and Keanu Harry for 9, to end with 2 for 11, in support to Stoll and Daniels.
President’s XI were given a wake-up call, when they lost both Robin Bacchus (0), caught at second slip by Boodie off the first ball of the innings from Heyliger and Dominique Rikhi (0) also caught by Boodie in the same position, off Paul, at 2 for 2. They reached 28 for 2 at tea, with skipper Vishal Singh on 11 and Ryan Ramdass 17, as they sought to revive their team’s innings in the face of some disciplined bowling from the Cinderella County side.
The pair pushed the score to 102, before Ramdass, who posted his half-century from 92 balls with five fours, was lbw to Adams (2 for 28), and followed shortly after by Seon Hetmyer (7), who was also lbw to Adams at 118 for 4.
Hetmyer’s dismissal occurred after Singh posted his third successive half-century for this year’s tournament, even though it was a boundary-less one that took him 145 deliveries to accumulate and at the close he was on 52 with Shaquille Williams, with Adams taking 2 for 28 to date.
The President’s XI made three changes, replacing Shemroy Barrington, Kellon Carmichael and Romario Shepherd-DeJonge with Stoll, Daniels and Williams while Essequibo brought in Mark Gonsalves for Mark Tyrell.
At Enmore, defending champions Demerara and their arch rivals Berbice were locked in a battle for first innings points, in another interesting day of cricket which saw leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo pick up another five-wicket haul.
The Albion Cricket Club right-arm leg-spinner took 6 for 50 which together with Keon Joseph’s 3 for 53, catapulted Demerara for 161 from 48.1 overs, to which the Berbicians replied with 73 for 3 at the close of play, still looking for 89 more runs to claim first-innings points in an entertaining fixture.
Winning the toss and inviting their opponents, who took the title from them last year, to take first strike, Berbice struck early by removing Trevon Griffith (2) and Rajendra Chandrika (8), to leave them on 12 for 2.
Skipper Leon Johnson, who top-scored with 38 (64 balls, 5×4; 1×6) and former West Indies skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan 28 (40 balls, 3×4), added 61 for the third wicket, before Sarwan was caught by Jonathan Foo at third man off the lively Raun Johnson ( 1 for 39).
Enter the in-form Christopher Barnwell whose robust 32 was scored off 27 balls with three fours and one maximum struck off Krisendat Ramoo, who added 41 for the fourth wicket with Johnson, before he was caught by Bishoo at mid on, off Joseph, as Demerara went to lunch on 115 for 4 with Johnson 32 and Steven Jacobs yet to score.
Jacobs failed to trouble the scorers, as he was knocked over by Bishoo when play resumed and seven runs later, Christopher Pattadin (7), was lbw to Bishoo, who mopped up the Demerara tail with ease, removing five of their six batsmen after the luncheon interval, including Johnson.
When Berbice batted, Sewnarine Chattergoon 26 (2×4) and Kandasammy Surujnarine 31 (2×4) posted 58 for the first wicket, before they were both dismissed, with Chattergoon being lbw to Zaheer Mohammed and Surujnarine taken by Joseph Perry off Amir Khan.
First-round centurion Royston Crandon and Assad Fudadin pushed the score to 73, before Jacobs had Fudadin lbw just before the close of play, the score remaining the same with Crandon unbeaten on 12 and Ramoo yet to score.
Demerara brought in Jacobs and gave Trevon Garraway a rest, while Berbice also made one change, bringing in Surujnarine for Rajiv Ivan.

(By Calvin Roberts)

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