to Ramcharitar 40-overs  title
MAN-of-the match Harrinarain Chattergoon snared five for 18 while his elder sibling Ramnarine stroked a composed (93) to ensure Albion Community Centre disposed of Rose Hall Town by 53 runs in the final of the inaugural Anirud Ramcharitar Construction 40- Overs Knock Out first division cricket competition in Berbice.
Playing on Saturday at the Port Mourant Ground, Albion rattled up a formidable 215 for six at the expiration of their 40 overs after they were surprisingly inserted to bat on a placid track.
Rose Hall Town in reply, were never really in the hunt apart from a brief period when national middle-order batsman Assad Fudadin and Khemraj Mahadeo were at the crease, crashing to 162 all out in 39.5 overs.
The pair put on 52 runs for the fourth wicket in nine overs that pushed Rose Hall Town from 92 for three in the 23rd over to 144 in the 32nd over.
At that stage, with Rose Hall Town having seven wickets at their disposal and needing to score at just under nine runs per over and both batsmen stroking the ball admirably and scoring almost at will, it seems as if  the large crowd were in for a trilling finish but once Mahadeo (18) was caught in the deep to give off-spinner Harrainarain Chattergoon his first wicket, it was absolutely downhill thereafter.
Fudadin fell shortly after to a scorching return catch held by Harrinarain Chattergoon but it was not before the left-hander had rattled up a responsible (68), a knock that contained four fours.
Opener Jason Sinclair had earlier also chipped in with (41) and added a fine 71 for the second wicket in 16 overs with Fudadin.
Apart from Harrainarain Chattergoon, national leg-spinner Davendra Bishoo bagged three for 18 and medium pacer Doodnauth Lalbeharry one for 20.
Earlier, it was Ramnarine Chattergoon’s innings that held the Albion innings together after the national Neal and Massy 40 overs champions had slipped to 118 for four in the 25th over.
The right-handed Ramnarine Chattergoon who represented Guyana at the Under 19 level and the Combined Colleges and Campuses at the Senior Regional One day level, smashed eight fours in a matured batting display and put together a brilliant 89 runs fifth wicket partnership in 14 overs with skipper Orvin Mangru (30) before falling seven short of a century in the penultimate over of the innings, with Albion recovering nicely 207.
Sewnarine Chattergoon was the only other Albion batsman to get among the runs with (26) as Harrinarain Chattergoon with whom he added 50 for the first wicket in 10 overs made (14), Manoj Pooranauth (6) and Bishoo (12).
Lalbbeharry and Arif Ishak were unbeaten on (9) and (0) respectively when the overs expired.
Medium pacer Terrence Madrimootooo took two for 25, off-spinner Fudadin two for 39 and left-arm-spinner Ravi Narine two for 40, while off-spinners Eon Hooper and Troy Matheison supported with one each for 20 and 49 respectively, bowling for Rose Hall Town who have now lost to Albion in three consecutive limited overs first division finals of late.
At the presentation ceremony which followed, Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) vice-president Mark Lyte congratulated both teams for reaching the final and more so Albion for maintaining their superiority over Rose Hall Town.
“Certainly Albion have proven to be the real champions of Berbice cricket. I guess you would have also remembered that these two teams had met in the 2009 national Neal and Massy final a few months ago, where Albion also recorded a comprehensive victory at the Guyana National Stadium.”
Lyte also took the opportunity to the Anirud Ramcharitar Construction Company for their kind sponsorship.
Albion collected a beautiful trophy and $60,000. for their effort while Rose Hall Town received the runner-up incentive of $30,000.
Harrinarain Chattergoon also took home a trophy and $5,000. for being adjudged the man-of-the-match.