INSPIRED by some early swing bowling from Kellon Carmichael and clever bowling from Steven Sankar and Kemo Paul, the Steven Jacobs-led Guyana Cricket Board Developmental XI were in charge at the end of the first day of their GCB four-day Inter-county encounter against Essequibo at the Demerara Cricket Club ground.

Sankar took 4 for 36, Carmichael 3 for 50, and the lively Kemo Paul 2 for 8 as Essequibo were decimated for 232 off 71.3 overs, after being 105 for 2, with Ricardo Adams 56, Ricardo Peters 44, Brian Herbert 31, Mark Gonsalves 29 and skipper Anthony Adams 27 offering resistance to the home team’s bowling attack.
At the close of play, the GCB Developmental XI were 60 for 1 off 20 overs, with Shimron Hetmyer and Chandrapaul Hemraj on 27 and 15 respectively, needing another 163 runs to take first-innings lead in a contest that may not reach Sunday’s final day.
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Essequibo saw Royan Fredericks start with four off Niall Smith, followed by another through point off Carmichael, before he was caught driving on the up at extra cover by Steven Sankar off Carmichael, two balls after hitting the bowler for four.
Kevon Boodie, who stroked a double-century against the Under-198 in the 50 overs tournament, struggled against the swing of Carmichael, who recently returned from England where he played with Hadleigh and Thundersley Cricket Club, and was bowled for 6.
Ricardo Adams and Ricardo Peters pushed the score to 61 for 2, off 13.3 overs, with their team’s 50 coming off 11.1 overs, before rain forced a halt in play and an early lunch in the process, with Essequibo on 61 for 2, thanks to 20 from Peters and 19 from Ricardo Adams.
When play resumed for an extended post-lunch session, Essequibo saw the muscular Ricardo Adams hit Jacobs for three sixes and one four in two overs, pushing the score to 89 for 2, off 17 overs, with his personal score moving to 42.
Another six off Yatesh Dhanpaul over squareleg, posted Ricardo Adams’ 50 from 50 balls with four fours and a similar number of sixes from 65 minutes of batting, realising Essequibo’s 100 in the 20th over of their innings.
Needlessly, he looked to hit Carmichael over long off, but picked out Kemo Paul who took a well-judged catch, after the hard-hitting middle order batsman had struck four sixes and four fours from the 57 balls he faced for his 56, as he added 80 for the third wicket with Peters, at 105 for 3.
From 105 for 3, Essequibo slipped to 136 for 6, losing Peters for 44 (130 mins, 103 balls, 8×4), Shivendra Hemraj (13) and Parmesh Parsotam (0), as Jacobs and Sankar worked in tandem to restrict their scoring, before Anthony Adams 27 (41 balls, 3×4; 1×6) and Mark Gonsalves added 34 for the seventh wicket.
Essequibo skipper Anthony Adams was in a pugnacious mood, hitting Yatesh Dhanpaul for back-to-back fours, followed by a six off Sankar before he was lbw to Sankar at 170 for 7. At tea Essequibo progressed to 201 for 7 with Gonsalves on 20 and Brian Herbert 16, that included two fours and a six off Sankar.
After the break, the GCB Developmental side wrapped up the Cinderella County lineup, with Kemo Paul removing both Herbert 31 (4×4; 1×6) and Gonsalves 27 (3×4; 1×6), while Sankar induced Hemchand Persaud (0) to push one into the waiting hands of David Latchaya at forward short leg.
When the GCB Developmental XI began their reply, the left-handed pair of West Indies Under-19 and Guyana first class openers Chanderpaul and Hetmyer posted 37 for the first wicket, with Chanderpaul working Herbert deftly through midwicket for two fours, before he was bowled by Anthony Adams for 11.
Hemraj opened his account with a sweetly-timed drive through extra cover off Fredericks and followed with another boundary in the same off the same bowler two overs later, posting his team’s 50 before the close of play.
Meanwhile at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground, Demerara ended the day on 320 for 3 off 92 overs, after they won the toss and chose to bat first in hazy conditions. They were led by centuries from skipper Vishal Singh and Rajendra Chandrika.
Singh stroked 16 fours in his 153, while Chandrika has a similar number of boundaries in his unbeaten 138, as they added 300 for the third wicket, following the quick demise of Robin Bacchus (3) and Trevon Griffith (12), who were both dismissed by Raun Johnson, who returned to break the third-wicket partnership when he bowled Singh to end the day with 3 for 55.
The action will continue at both venues from 09:30hrs today.

(By Calvin Roberts)