West Demerara slump to six-wicket defeat

… Lower Corentyne whips Essequibo by an innings and 122 runs
By Rajiv Bisnauth
WEST Demerara’s batting collapsed for the second time in as many days as East Coast Demerara crushed them by six wickets, inside two days in the opening round of the Jaguars Franchise League Three-day competition yesterday at the Enterprise Busta Sports Club.The visitors, faced with a first innings deficit of 60 runs, were bundled out for 105 in their second innings, 25 minutes before the tea interval.
Their nemesis once again proved to be the host spinners, who took seven second innings wickets between them, to cripple the innings. Gavin Moriah’s fiery pace was also instrumental in the commanding win.
West Demerara’ embarrassment could have been far worst, but opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who got a third-ball ‘duck’ in the first innings, stepped up the second time around and delayed the inevitable, with a stubborn knock of 43.
Set 46 to win, East Coast Demerara lost openers Rajendra Chandrika (12)and Gavin Boodwah (8),along with Bhaskar Yadram (0) and Chanderpaul Hemraj (12).
However, Kamesh Yadram, seven not out, and Ramnarine Chatura,four not out took their team to the winning target without further trouble.
Earlier,a West Demerara fightback with the ball had kept the host in check, and they were eventually bowled out just after an hour inside 16 overs into the day’s play.
East Coast Demerara started the day very cautiously, with overnight batsmen Vivian Albert and Ramnarine Chatura trying to defy the opposition attack.
But the inevitable finally happened as off-spinner Richie Looknauth (2-19) got the breakthrough by trapping Albert leg before wicket for two, and the remaining batsmen were dismissed cheaply by left-arm seamer Raymond Reifer, medium pacer Mahendra Dhanpaul, and pacer Romario Shephard.
Reifer, who finished the innings with 5-24, had found consistent swing to claim the wickets of Paul Wintz (6) and Amir Khan (11), while Dhanpaul (2-19) and Shephard (1-31), accounted for the wickets of Chatura (12) and Steven Sankar (8).
The host then drove home their advantage inside ten overs of the West Demerara second innings, with the early wickets of opener Ronaldo Reene and skipper Akshaya Persaud.
The impressive Moriah (3-17), bowled Reene without scoring, while Albert (2-8), accounted for Persaud in similar fashion to leave the visitors in a deep hole on 23-2.
The other opening batsman, Tagenarine Chanderpaul,along with Kemol Savory, defended resolutely and took the total to 52 at the lunch interval.
However, their 34-run stand ended soon after the interval when Moriah castled both Savory and Chanderpaul for 9 and 43 respectively. All told, Chanderpaul stroked three fours and two sixes in an innings which lasted 85 deliveries.
After those dismissals ,things went downhill rapidly. Few of the West Demerara batsmen ever looked comfortable and found runs hard to get as the session wore on – struggling in particular to score off leg-spinner Sankar (3-37), who removed Reifer (23), Shephard (3) and Yetesh Dhanpaul (4).
Khan (2-33) and Albert claimed the final three wickets.
East Coast Demerara will play Upper Corentyne ,while West Demerara will clash with East Bank Demerara in round two.
Meanwhile, summarised scores in the other three first- round games are as follows:
West Berbice closed on 166-5 in their second innings, an overall lead of 215, after they dismissed Upper Corentyne for 183 in their first innings.
East Bank Demerara closed on 68-5, a second innings lead of 74, after they bowled out Georgetown for 186 in their first innings,while Lower Corentyne whipped Essequibo by an innings and 122 runs. Scores in the game, Essequibo 101 and 159, Lower Corentyne 382.