One-day wins for President’s XI and Berbice

LED by attacking half-centuries from skipper Ronaldo Ali-Mohammed and Ryan Shun, backed by disciplined bowling, President’s XI opened their campaign in the one-day phase of the Guyana Cricket Board Under-19 Inter-county tournament with a 50-run victory over Essequibo at the Everest Cricket Club yesterday.

Across at the Wales Community Centre ground, Berbice snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, with their enthralling four-run win over a hapless Demerara lineup to join the President’s XI in the winners’ circle on the opening day.
At Everest, Essequibo won the toss and chose to field first in slightly overcast conditions, following which rain stopped play at 10:14hrs with President’s XI on 48 without loss after eight overs, with Ryan Shun 24 and Sunil Singh 18.
Shun had started positively prior to the rain break, hitting Jamal Hartman for four in the first over followed by a six over midwicket off Akil Wallace, but when play resumed at 11:59hrs, he lost Singh four balls later, lbw to Akini Adams (1 for 29) at 51 for 1.
Shun and Avishkar Sewkarran added 53 for the second wicket, before Sewkarran was brilliantly caught by Travis Drakes running around to wide long-on off Wallace for 31 at 104 for 2, with his contribution being a 51-ball 31 that included two fours.
Shun posted his 50 from 78 balls counting four fours and one six but lost Nick Ramsaroop (4), then joined forces with Mohammed to add 33 for the fourth wicket before Essequibo removed Shun, caught and bowled by Parmesh Parsotam for 60 (83 balls, 4×4, 1×6).
Parsotam, who ended with 2 for 56, came in for some rough treatment from Mohammed, who struck him for two sixes over long-on and long-off on his way to a 42-ball 50 that included an additional six and four fours.
However, in the haste to score quickly, President’s XI lost Mohammed for 58 (45 balls, 5×4, 3×6), Damion Waldron (6) and Gavin Moriah 11, before Yenkini Favourite struck two fours in his unbeaten 9 and Renson Mitchell one four in his six, as their team reached 214 for 7 off 38 overs.
Kemo Paul, Wallace and Parsotam took 2 wickets each for 18, 55 and 56 runs respectively for Essequibo, who were given a revised target of 224 to achieve victory off their 38 overs. In reply, they lost Shivendra Hemraj (2) caught at the wicket by Kareem Mentore off Moriah at 17 for 1.
However, skipper Kemo Paul fought back for his team by hitting Favourite audaciously over squareleg for 6, followed by a four off the bat of Avishkar Persaud, as they took the fight to the President XI’s bowling attack.
Not daunted by their opponents’ attacking attitude, President’s XI removed Paul who pushed one back to Shun, four balls after the water break at 81 for 2, adding 64 for the second wicket with Persaud with his contribution being 23 (2×4, 1×6).
Persaud reached a topscore of 60 (66 balls, 9×4; 1×6) in the Cinderella County team’s innings, but they folded to the bowling of Shun (3 for 33) and Ershad Ali (3 for 38), backed by Moriah’s 2 for 22 to be dismissed for 173 in 35.4 overs, with Adams hitting three fours in his unbeaten 19, while Wallace plundered two sixes off Waldron and one four in his quick-fire 17.
Meanwhile at Wales, Berbice pulled off a sensational last-gasp win from the clutches of defeat Demerara, after a forgettable batting display by their batsmen, saw them successfully defend a small target of 143.
Arif Chan was the hero for the Berbicians, when he struck four crucial blows in the hosts’ chase, securing the win with the wicket of Daniel Basdeo who was bowled off an inside edge, securing an incredible come-from-behind win for the visitors.
The mainstays of Demerara’s innings were Ramnarine Chatura, who made 42 from 88 balls and Tagenarine Chanderpaul, 40 from 118 balls, the pair showing resolute spirit in adding 62 runs for the fifth-wicket to ensure the impact of the early loss was minimised before being separated.
Demerara were just 17 runs away from the win when both were removed, with the right-handed Chatura hitting four fours and a six and Chanderpaul, who was dropped on 28, hitting four boundaries.
However, that proved to be the only partnership of note in Demerara innings as the other batsmen paid the price for being impatient, including the hard-hitting Brian Sattaur who made a 23-ball 24 with four sixes before he was dismissed.
After that, Ronaldo Renee (0), Rudolph Singh (4) and Sherfane Rutherford (5) were removed in the space of 20 balls and from a comfortable position of 121-5, Demerara were eventually bowled out for 138 in 46 overs, losing Chatura, Malcolm Hubbard (0), Kemol Savory (9), Steven Sankar (0) and Basdeo in the process.
Sharaz Ramcharran (2-22) and (2-24) supported Chan, while David Latchaya (1-9) and Parmanand Ramdhan (1-22) were the other successful bowlers for Berbice who were earlier dismissed for 142 in 39.1 overs.
Basdeo finished with 3-34, while his fellow pacer Rutherford took 2-22, backed by spinners Steven Sankar 2-19 and Malcolm Hubbard 2-32 to rock the Berbice batting line-up after they lost the toss and were asked to bat first.
They lost wickets regularly during their innings, which never really gathered momentum after they lost Martin Singh for 6 in the first over, caught at the wicket by Kemol Savory off Kevin Paul (1 for 29).
They recovered somewhat from the early loss and fellow opener Balchand Baldeo joined forces with Shimron Hetmyer to put on a solid 45-run second-wicket partnership, as they played responsibly, before Basdeo produced the desired breakthrough when he had Hetmyer caught at the wicket for 19.
Soon after, Rutherford accounted for Baldeo whose 26 included one four and a six and Ramcharran (9), enabling Hubbard and Sankar to tighten the noose by removing Hakeem Hinds (4), Ashkay Homraj (0) and Chan (1), to leave the Berbicians reeling at 87-7.
Parmanand Ramdhan, who top-scored with 33 (3×4, 2×6), showed some resistance at the bottom, sharing 27 runs with David Latchaya (20) and an additional 10 and 20 runs respectively with Niall Smith (3) and Grisean Grant (2), before the visitors’ innings folded in 39.1 overs.
The action will continue today with two more matches in the second round, where President’s XI will go up against Demerara at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground while Berbice will oppose Essequibo at the Enmore Community Centre ground. Both matches will commence at 09:30hrs.

(By Calvin Roberts)