CB/GTM Under-19 Inter-county …
FORMER West Indies Under-15 right-arm leg-spinner Amir Khan inked his name early into the minds of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) junior selection panel, when he destroyed Essequibo with his maiden five-wicket haul at the Uitvlugt Community Centre ground yesterday. When play began after lunch on the second day, following the complete washout of the official first day’s play, 17-year-old Khan grabbed 6-32 from 16 overs, as Essequibo, who are known as the perennial whipping boys of local cricket, crumbled for 126, to which Demerara replied with 44-3 at the close, as a keen battle is now on for first innings points.
Asked to take first strike on a placid wicket, Essequibo got a sound start from skipper Herell Greene (28) and Vijay Surajpaul (17) who added 43 for the first wicket against the bowling of national Under-19 fast bowlers Seon Daniels and Andre Stoll, with the former hitting Stoll through extra cover and backward point for boundaries in one over.
The demise of Surajpaul, who was bowled by a Khan googly, started a well-known batting collapse by the Essequibians, as eight wickets fell for 42 runs, following the introduction of Raj Nanan and Khan within the first hour of play.
Greene displayed a level of maturity while at the wicket before he was caught by Christopher Surat who had to run back to long on. From this point a steady procession followed as Khan was involved in Essequibo’s first five dismissals.
Ravendra Mohabir (9) opened his account with a sweetly timed drive square of the wicket off Khan, before he failed to beat a Shameer Fazal throw from the point boundary when returning for a second run, after driving the bowler to that area.
Keron McLennon (1), Kevin Boodie (0), Neil Ramalho 8 (1×4) and Anthony Adams (8) who was given a life by Kwame Crosse at first slip off Nanan, all fell to Khan and with Surat accounting for Beaton (9), Essequibo were left in a spot of bother at 90-8 at tea, with Fredericks on 5 and Mark Tyrell yet to score, as Khan had figures of 6-27.
After tea, both Fredericks (11*) and Mark Tyrell (21) struck Nanan and Stoll, for boundaries as Essequibo, who posted their 100 from 44.1 overs, moved to 125-8, before Tyrell was adjudged lbw to Surat who had replaced Nanan at the Southern End, bringing an end to a resilient 40-run ninth-wicket partnership with Fredericks.
It was all over for Essequibo, when Daniels rattled the stumps of Tulsiram Premnauth without scoring, leaving Fredericks unbeaten on 11. Khan, who ended with 6-32, received worthy support from Surat who took 2-3 from five overs of controlled off spin bowling.
With the waves of the Atlantic Ocean rolling away in the background, national Under-19 fast bowler Beaton set Demerara’s reply off to a shaky start as he removed both Quincy Ovid-Richardson (0) who was caught at the wicket by McLennon and Clevon Hyman (2), to leave his opponents on 5-2 after three overs.
Crosse, who was unbeaten on 17 made off 48 balls with one four, joined Fazal (15) and they took the score to 36, before Fazal, who got two fours in one over off a pumped-up Beaton, went back to an arm ball from Adams that struck him full on the pad and he was adjudged lbw.
Arif Habib (1*) joined Crosse and they carried Demerara to 44-3 at the close of play, needing a further 83 runs for first innings points, with seven wickets remaining on the final day today, when play gets under way at 09:30 h, weather permitting.
Essequibo omitted Nokta Moses, Sean Venture and Vishnu Murray from their 14-man squad, while Alex Ramalho, Daryl Ross and Delroy Charles did not make it in Demerara’s starting eleven.

SCOREBOARD
ESSEQUIBO first innings
H. Greene c Surat b Khan    28
V. Surajpaul b Khan    17
R. Mohabir run-out (Fazal)    9
K. McLennon lbw Khan    1
N. Ramalho b Khan    8
K. Boodie lbw Khan    0
A. Adams c Crosse b Khan    11
R. Beaton b Surat    9
K. Fredericks not out    11
M. Tyrell lbw Surat    21
T. Premnauth b Daniels    0
Extras: (nb-5, b-4, lb-1)    10
Total: (all out, off 50.4 overs)    126
Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-54, 3-57, 4-57, 5-59, 6-68, 7-79, 8-85, 9-125.
Bowling: Daniels 8.4-1-31-1 (nb-2), Stoll 7-1-24-0 (nb-1), Crosse 2-1-4-0, Nanan12-3-26-0 (nb-2), Khan 16-3-32-6, Surat 5-2-3-2.
DEMERARA first innings
Q. Ovid-Richardson c wkpr McLennon b Beaton    0
S. Fazal lbw Adams    15
C. Hyman b Beaton    2
K. Crosse not out    17
A. Habib not out    1
Extras: (b-2, lb-4, nb-1)    7
Total: (for 3 wickets, off 17 overs)    44
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-5, 3-36.
Bowling: Beaton 5-1-16-2, Fredericks 4-0-12-0, Adams 4-1-4-1, Premnauth 4-1-6-0 (nb-1).