… Young Chanderpaul hungry for more runs

By Rajiv Bisnauth

WEST Demerara opening batsman Tagenarine Chanderpaul says he is hungry for more runs as the inaugural Jaguars Franchise League Three-day tournament approaches the final two rounds.The 20-year-old was the shining light with the bat for West Demerara in the last round, where he produced a fabulous effort to register his first hundred in the tournament, 187 against Georgetown.
The left-handed batsman’s superb concentration and insatiable appetite for batting have made him West Demerara’s most consistent batsman.
Chanderpaul (449) is just 16 runs behind Jonathan Foo, who is the leading scorer with 465.
He is also one of five players to have registered a century after five rounds of the eight-team tournament. Sherfane Rutherford, Kevon Boodie, Keemo Paul and Foo are the others to have achieved that milestone. Foo is the only batsman with two hundreds.
“I am feeling confident, and at the same time hungry for more runs,” Chanderpaul told Chronicle Sport yesterday.
On the other hand, left-arm spinner Kassim Khan leads the wickets tally, with 29.
The tournament continues today with four matches countrywide.
Table toppers Lower Corentyne and West Demerara will clash at the Tuschen Community Centre ground.
Lower Corentyne have played unbeaten in the eight-team tournament so far, and in the process have accumulated 86.1 points, 22.5 points ahead of West Demerara.
Other matches in the penultimate round will see West Berbice play Georgetown at the Young Warriors ground in Cumberland, Berbice; Essequibo host East Coast Demerara at the Iman Bacchus ground while East Bank and Upper Corentyne clash at the Everest Cricket Club ground.
The points standings for the remaining teams read: Georgetown (59.3), Upper Corentyne (34.8), Essequibo (30.5), West Berbice (29), East Bank (25.1) and Georgetown (24.4).
Apart from the Three-day competition, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) also has in the pipeline a Jaguars 50-over League and the Jaguars Premier League T20 tournament.
Replacing the traditional Inter-county competition, the leagues will be streamlined to feed into the WICB’s Professional Cricket League (PCL) Four-day competition and the Regional Super50, as well as the Caribbean Premier League T20.