NATIONAL opener Trevon Griffith and Bermine’s Anthony D’Andrade churned out exemplary performances for their adopted club Esmeralda Sports Club (ESC) in neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago, firing them into sixth position on the points table.Competing in the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board’s (TTCB) 2014 Premier League two-day competition, following the absence of same in Georgetown and Berbice for various reasons, the Guyanese duo helped ESC defeat Caldrac Sports Club, before going under to Powergen and eking out a draw with Clarke Road.
The 23-year-old Griffith who played three first class matches for Guyana, in which he accumulated 46 runs at an average of 9.20, scored 38 and D’Andrade who leads the team, 30 in ESC’s first innings score of 200 against Caldrac, with T. Castro and E. Rajah contributing 33 each.
Ancil Nedd took 3 for 37, Jon Ross Jagessar 3 for 53 and Allen Laurent 2 for 34 for Cadrac, who in reply were bowled out for 82, with A Mollon claiming 6 for 49 and R. Harris 4 for 29 for ESC, who in their second innings scored 189, thanks to 55 from D’Andrade and 22 from Griffith.
Chasing 308 for victory Caldrac were then dismissed for 146 in their second innings, with Neil Williams another Guyanese plying his trade in the Twin Island Republic, topscoring with 45, against the bowling of K. Sirju 3-43 and Griffith’s 2-6 for ESC who won by 161 runs.
In their second-round game against Powergen, Powergen won the toss and elected to bat first, scoring 228 all out with Varoon Samaroo making 75, Rajendra Chandrika 36 and A. Bagan 35.
Sirju took 6-37 and B. Boodram 2-50 for ESC who were dismissed for 147, despite Griffith’s 57 and 25 from Castro, as Sherwin Ganga claimed five wickets for Powergen, who, in their second innings, scored 141 with Chandrika contributing 34.
Griffith took 7 for 60 with his off-breaks that he bowls part-time for Demerara Cricket Club, for ESC who were asked to score 223 for a come-from-behind victory but managed 128 with R. Harris and D’Andrade contributing 24 and 23 respectively, as Ganga snared 4 for 47 to hand Powergen the win by 94 runs.
In the third round against Clarke Road, with former Guyana and West Indies opener Ryan Ramdass, West Indies Under-19 wicketkeeper/batsman Nicholas Pooran and Berbice’s Ranga Latchana among their ranks, Clarke Road were asked to take first strike and were bowled out for 192.
A. Ali top-scored with 67, Latchana 34 and Pooran 30 even as Ramdass failed to contribute, as Sirju was again among the wickets, being the chief destroyer by taking 6-50 off 18 overs for ESC, who in reply made 289 with Griffith scoring his first Premier League ton (124) with 10 fours and two sixes.
Opening the batting, Griffith showed great responsibility and composure ensuring that his team had passed the first-innings score of Clarke Road, before he was dismissed at 245, but not before he added 94 for the fourth wicket with D’Andrade who contributed a valuable 40 that took ESC from 52 for 3 to 146, before D’Andrade was dismissed.
Castro chipped in with a worthy 22 for ESC, while D. Davis took 3-38 and Yannick Ottley 3-46 for Clarke Road, who were 24-0 in their second innings when rain washed out the remainder of the match, leaving ESC to be content with first-innings points.
By Calvin Roberts