Berbice 75 for 4 in reply to Demeraraxs 216
By Marlon Munroe
SPEARHEADED by a brilliant half- century from Trevon Griffith, Demerara reached 216 all out after Jonathan Foo grabbed a five-wicket haul at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, in the GTM U-19 final round match against Berbice.

Berbice in reply, at the end of the first day, were 75-4 from 22 overs. Foo came back with the bat to be unbeaten on 50 from 49 balls with 11 boundaries. Alex Amsterdam was not out on 16.

The two came together when Andre Stoll and Seon Daniels had earlier ripped through the top order and were bowling aggressively.

Fast bowlers Stoll and Daniels made early inroads into the Berbice batting lineup to finish the day with 2-9 and 1-28 respectively. Stoll picked up the wickets of Seon Hetymyer and Manooj Poorannauth, caught by Amir Khan and wicketkeeper Dexter Solomon respectively, while Harrinarine Chattergoon was trapped in front by Daniels for one (3-3). Number two batsman Eon Hooper was run-out for nought when the score was two.

Foo, on his arrival to the crease looked solid while Amsterdam also looked poised to cause Demerara trouble. Demerara will have to win the match outright to take the title from the defending champions.

In the Demerara innings opening batsman Griffith fell 25 runs short of a century after playing a classy innings off 119 that included four boundaries and two sixes in a span of 136 minutes. He featured in a 91-run partnership with Ryan Rajmangal who scored 25 runs (3×4, 117 balls) from 103 minutes.

Griffith, who has the potential of a world class batsman, played sensibly to ensure Demerara made a respectable total to defend in the first innings. He played aggressively as Rajmangal seemed quite content to play the role of the xsilent partnerx until he was dismissed two balls before lunch.

Demerara then lost the wickets of Delroy Charles for one (92-2), Kishan Shivgobin for 0 (97-3) at the lunch break from 36 overs.

After the resumption Demerara were put under more pressure as they lost their captain Rajindra Naikbaran run-out for one (99-4) and Griffith caught for 75 (114-5).

Foo started the decline with three wickets and Sahadeo Somai snared one.

Subsequently, Dexter Solomon and Stoll started to repair the early damage in the post-lunch period. The two featured in a 60-run partnership until Stoll retired hurt on 30 after being hit on the thigh by fast bowler Keyron Fraser when the score was 174-5.

Solomon was soon run-out for 32 (5×4, 76 mins) and Amir Khan went cheaply for two off the bowling of Fraser. Daniels played a brief cameo of 24 that included two boundaries until he was out caught by Hooper off the bowling of Foo.

Stoll returned but added nothing to his 30 as he was caught by Joemal La Fleur off the bowling of Somai. His partner Ricardo Devers contributed 10 and was left unbeaten while Demerara slipped to 216. Foo finished with 5-93, Somai 2-48 and Fraser 1-30.