… Bermine draw bye into semis

IN SWELTERING heat and on a heavy outfield Port Mourant Cricket Club (PMCC) made light work over their hosts Blairmont Cricket Club to come away with a 53 run victory in their Berbice Cricket Board/Berbice River Bridge Company-sponsored first division 50-overs knockout competition on Sunday.

Also recording an opening-round victory were West Berbice who humiliated tournament debutants by 207 runs, thanks to Quacy McPherson’s ton and a mean spell of fast bowling from national fast bowler Raun Johnson.
At Blairmont, the visiting PMCC won the toss and chose to bat first on an under-prepared track due to the unavailability of ground staff at the venue, which resulted in the match starting late and being reduced to 45 overs-a-side.
Thanks to an 80-run third-wicket partnership between Lloydel Lewis 62 (2×4, 2×6) and skipper Devendra Thakurdeen 33 (2×4), PMCC rallied from 16 for 2 to 96 for 2 before being bowled out for 161 which was scored off 39.1 overs.
Waqar Hassan engineered the visitors’ batting collapse, by claiming 5 for 21, backed by Kevon Jahawir’s 2 for 46 while bowling for Blairmont, who in reply were bowled out for 108 off 36.2 overs, as only Deryck Prashad 42 (5×4) and Avishkar Sewkarran 22 offered resistance to the bowling of Amir Khan (3 for 10), Thakurdeen (3 for 14) and Dimitri Cameron who bowled with aggression to take 2 for 23.
At the D’Edward ground, the home team had an introduction to first division cricket in the Ancient County at the hands of West Berbice and one they would wish to forget very quickly, having dominated at the second division level for a number of years.
Winning the toss and opting to field first, D’Edward saw McPherson striking 11 fours and six sixes in his 105, which was ably supported by Andrew Dutchin’s 58 (3×4, 3×6), as the duo added in excess of 100 runs for the second wicket, after Arthley Bailey was dismissed off the first ball without scoring.
Kenje Sedoc chipped in with 24 (2×6, 1×4) for West Berbice, who were bowled out for 267 off 45.3 overs, with Devindra Singh (3 for 41), Christian France (3 for 49), Navindra Rampersaud (2 for 38) and Deryck Lalsa (2 for 43) doing the damage with the ball for D’Edward.
In their turn at the wicket, the home team faced a red-hot Johnson who bowled with pace and aggression to support Krishendat Ramoo (3 for 11) and Keith Fraser 3 for 16, with his 3 for 25 and they crumbled for 60 for 9 when their innings was declared close.
Only Ramesh Boodram 27 (3×6) was the lone batsman to reach double figures, as the experienced Eon Abel did not show up for the contest.
At Cumberland, Universal Solutions Bermine on the back of a solid all-round performance from Romario Shepherd-DeJonge, recorded a comfortable four-wicket victory over a game Young Warriors lineup to not only earn a bye in the second round, but land themselves a place in the semifinals as well.
Batting first, Young Warriors were bowled out for 164 from 46.2 overs, with Seon Hetmyer 33 (2×6, 1×4), Ishwar Singh 31 (1×4) and Waheid Edwards 23 leading their batting even as Shepherd-DeJonge grabbed 4 for 36 and got support from Steven Latcha (3 for 30) and Niall Smith (2 for 32).
In their reply, Universal Solutions Bermine struggled up to 70 for 4 following the departure of Shemroy Barrington for 36 (3×4, 1×6), at which point Shepherd-DeJonge came to the wicket and struck five fours and three sixes in his unbeaten 56 which took them to 167 for 6 off 41.2 overs, while Linden Austin (2 for 13) and Vishal Mohabir (2 for 53) bowled well for Young Warriors.
At Edinburgh, the home team were arrested and sent packing out of the tournament by a disciplined Police lineup, who came away with a three-wicket victory, despite some resistance.
Batting first after being asked to do so, Edinburgh were bowled out for 123 in 28.2 overs, as only Joseph Giddings 33 and Jerome Andrews 31 resisted the bowling efforts of Kwesi Mickle (5 for 32), Rocky Hutson (3 for 28) and Carl Campbell (2 for 10).
In their turn at the wicket, Police scored 126 for 7 off 20 overs, led by Kurt Griffith’s unbeaten 28, 23 from Ellon Shultz and 22 from Michael Campbell, as Jerome Andrews, Shafeek Khan and Michael Sampson took two wickets each for 20, 22 and 30 runs respectively to restrict the lawmen before their win.
At the Skeldon ground, the home team were handed a humiliating nine-wicket defeat at the hands of a purposeful-looking Rose Hall Town Gizmos and Gadgets lineup, who saw their hosts win the toss and decide to bat first but they were bowled out for 154 off 31.2 overs.
Charles Frank 32, Junior Blair 23, Sherwyn Murray 22 and Parmanand Narine 21 led Skeldon’s batting with Shawn Pereira 4 for 48 and Royston Crandon 2 for 37 did the damage with the ball for RHTGG, who in their turn at the wicket raced to 155 for 1 off 23 overs.
Delbert Hicks struck an unbeaten 85 (10×4, 2×6) and Jason Sinclair an even unbeaten half-century that included four fours, as they added 130 from 10 overs following the demise of Crandon (8) at 25 for 1 in the seventh over of their innings.
The final first-round match will be contested this Saturday between Guytrac Upper Corentyne and Bush Lot Rising Star at the Number 69 ground, with the winner playing Albion, who drew a bye in the first round, in Sunday’s second-round fixture at Albion.
In the other second-round fixtures PMCC will take on Police and West Berbice will face Rose Hall Town Gizmos and Gadgets. The venues for both matches will be decided by the BCB’s Competitions Committee.

(By Calvin Roberts)