Essequibo record fourth defeat whipping from Berbice
HOSTS Essequibo plummeted to their fourth successive defeat, when they went under to Berbice by 98 runs in their final fixture of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)-organised Castrol-sponsored Under-15 Inter-county limited overs competition at the Anna Regina Community Centre ground yesterday.
Winning the toss and opting to take first strike in sultry conditions, Berbice scored an impressive 257-7 from their 50 overs, before restricting their opponents who were content on occupying the crease to 159-5 from their 50 overs.
The Berbice innings got off to a bright start in comparison to the previous day, as their openers Shimron Hetmyer (41) and Quincy McPherson (33) added 76 for the first wicket from 12.5 overs, before McPherson was caught at the wicket off Moin Khan who ended with 3-45 from his 10 overs.
Hetmyer followed soon after, when he was beaten and bowled through the gates by Khan who bowled impressively against his more illustrious opponents, before skipper Shawn Pereira (17) and Romario De Jonge (35) added 52 for the third wicket.
The partnership was broken when Pereira was adjudged lbw to Herry Greene (1-42) and he was followed by De Jonge who was run-out in his attempt to go for a second run at 154-4.
Shalendra Shameer (38) and Parmanand Narine (41), then took the fight back to the home team with a 67-run fifth-wicket partnership which took them 6.5 overs to accumulate, before Narine who had struck Khan for a maximum, was smartly stumped by wicketkeeper Devon George off Khan.
Shameer also failed to beat a throw from backward point in his attempt to score a second run, 10 runs after Narine went, but the pint-sized Gudakesh Motie Kanhai flicked fast bowler Dexter Williams (0-26) over mid wicket for a maximum, which preceded a sweetly timed drive through extra cover off Raj Parbattie (0-19).
He followed that up with another four over the head of Greene at long on off Tameshwar Dhanpaul (1-36), before he was caught by the same fielder in the same position off the next delivery for his quick-fire 17 which was decorated with two fours and one maximum.
Sharaz Ramsarran who had the privilege of hitting the winning boundary the previous day, also struck another in his unbeaten 11, which took Berbice who finished last year’s tournament as runners-up to defending champions Demerara, to their eventual total of 257-7 at the end of their 50 overs.
Things looked good for Essequibo when they began their reply, after opener Mark Gonsalves (4) struck fast bowler Nial Smith who is the son of former national coach Albert Smith for four, but the bowler rebounded to have the batsman caught at the wicket by Nazarudeen Bux, two deliveries later.
Andy Dass (24) and Shalendra Hemraj (23) added an even 50 from 19.4 overs for the second wicket, with Dass hitting both Motie Kanhai and Pereira for boundaries before he was caught at point off Shameer who ended with 3-38 from seven overs of controlled off spin.
Hemraj and Dhanpaul (6) were quickly dismissed by Shameer, with the former being stumped while the latter was caught at gully point off the leading edge and from the comfortable position of 54-1, Essequibo, as they had done before in their three previous games, slipped to 73-4 in the 28th over.
Parbattie (14) and his skipper Ricardo Adams, who followed up his pugnacious 95 from the previous day with an unbeaten 48, added a brisk 39 for the fifth wicket from 4.4 overs, with Adams who executed the duties of national vice-captain in last year’s team, opening his account with a six over wide long on off Shameer.
He followed that with another maximum off Shameer, with the ball making its way over the scorer’s booth and into the adjoining Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Anna Regina Annex, before he lost Parbattie via run-out by the bowler off his own bowling.
That was the last hurrah for Berbice, as Adams was joined by his deputy Greene and even though they did not carry their team closer to victory, they added 47 from 17.1 overs with cautious batting against an all-spin attack which was in operation for Berbice, with Shameer ending with 3-38.
The tournament will continue tomorrow and Tuesday, with Berbice facing their nemesis Demerara at the Enterprise Busta Sports Club, and the following day at  the  Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) ground, with the winner being certain of carting off this year’s championship.