… Forrester hits ton for GCC
A RESPONSIBLE 77 from Shawn De Souza backed by some clever bowling from Premchand Sookdeo (5-24) enabled the Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC) to maintain their unbeaten streak in the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA)-organised Haier Cup-sponsored second division limited-overs tournament. Playing at the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) ground, GNIC defeated the home team by 63 runs, thanks to the batting of De Souza who struck four sixes and three fours, and, along with Quincy Ovid-Richardson’s 44 (2×4, 2×6) and Collis Butts’ unbeaten 27, reached 211-9 from their 38 overs after being 77-7 at one stage.
Travis Blyden took 4-42 with his leg spin for the Army, who struggled against the spin of Sookdeo and were bowled out for 148 from 30.3 overs, with Paul Castello 28 (5×4), Sherwin McAlmont 24 (1×4, 1×6) and Marcus Watkins 23 (2×4) offering resistance even as Ranole Bourne supported Sookdeo with 2-39.
At the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground the home team pulverised then demoralised the bowling and batting attack of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS) team, to come away with a handsome 148-run victory.
MCYS won the toss and invited their hosts to take first strike, in which Forrester, who was named the best batsman in the 2010 Sir Garfield Sobers Invitational tournament in Barbados, stroked 14 fours and one six in his 108, guiding GCC to 304-3 from their 40 overs.
Skipper Carlos Jadunauth offered support to Forrester with an unbeaten 93 (7×4), while Alex Ramalho struck four fours and one six in his 37 and Raj Nanan two sixes and one four in his unbeaten 26.
Only Mark Cumberbatch 39 (3×4) and Nkosi Whyte 32 (3×4, 1×6) offered resistance to the bowling of Raphael Singh (4-56), Nanan (3-25) and Trevon France who took 2-21 as MCYS were bowled out for 156 from 30.4 overs in reply.
At the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) ground, the home team went under to Third Class by one wicket in a nail-biting encounter which had some discrepancies with the scoring at the end – a fiasco that certainly highlights the need for official scorers to be assigned to local club matches.
Being asked to take first strike, DCC batted poorly and were bowled out for  189 from 31 overs, with only Jamal Hinckson, who struck eight sixes and four fours in his 96 and Utam Munroe with 14 (1×4) managing to reach double figures.
Alvin Castello started the damage with the ball for Third Class to end with 3-25. He received valuable support from Mark Adams, Andre O’Neil and Lenny Pancham who took two wickets each for 11, 23 and 45 runs respectively.
Castello returned with the bat to display his all-round ability, striking nine sixes and one four in his unbeaten 89, while T. Hussein struck two fours and the same number of sixes in his 29, as Third Class reached 195-9 from 39.1 overs.
Dexter George and Edward Burnett took three wickets each for 26 and 44 runs respectively. However, a recheck of the scorebook by the DCC skipper showed Third Class had reached 179-9 and needing 11 runs from the final five deliveries, but at that stage, the umpires and the opposing team were nowhere to be seen.
At the Gandhi Youth Organisation (GYO) ground, the home team defeated Police by one wicket in another thrilling encounter, thanks to the batting of Vijay Gangaram.
Police won the toss and opting to bat fist made a formidable 244-9 from their 40 overs, with Cecil Adams leading the way with 94 that was decorated with eight sixes and five fours, while Shameer Fazal 42 (3×4, 1×6) and Ricardo Devers 21 not out (1×4, 1×6) offered support.
Deryck Khoulen (3-23) and Patrick Bradford who took 2-31 did the damage with the ball for GYO, who thanks to Gangaram’s unbeaten 69 (5×4, 5×6), Tagenarine Chanderpaul 63 (4×4, 4×6) and Abdul Rahim 33 (2×4, 2×6) led the way, even as Latchman Persaud took 5-38 for Police.
Action in this tournament will continue today, with Ace Warriors facing Police at GYO, Vikings and Third Class clashing at UG and GDF facing UG at GDF from 11:00 h.