… Foo and Lachigadoo hit half-centuries for Berbice
A RESILIENT 116-run second-wicket partnership between man-of-the-match Wasim Haslim (81) and Rajendra Chandrika (65) was enough to steer Demerara Under-23s to an easy five-wicket victory over their Berbice counterparts and take the Leslie Amsterdam Memorial trophy at the Albion Sports Club ground yesterday.
Earlier, Jacobs won the toss and asked the home team to take first strike on a flat wicket in hazy conditions and thanks to the batting of Jonathan Foo (77) and Ranga Lachigadoo (76) Berbice’s ‘A’ team reached 231-6 at the end of their 47 overs.
Jacobs himself led from the front with the ball grabbing  3-42, while Kellon Carmichael took 2-58 for Demerara who scored 232-5 from 43.1 overs.
In reply, against the bowling of Seon Hetmyer (2-24), Demerara avenged their two-wicket defeat in the first match which saw Berbice cart off the Colin Wiltshire Memorial trophy last Friday.
When Berbice batted, they lost Harrinarine Chattergoon (9) who was unfortunately run-out by Andre Stoll who got his fingers onto  full blooded drive from the bat of Richard Ramdeen (29, 3×4) that struck the stumps and found Chattergoon short of his ground.
Having on-drove Stoll for four to long on, Ramdeen, who was a member of the Guyana Amazon Conquerors team which competed in the Airtel Champions League in South Africa, struck Videsh Lall (1-39) over extra cover and through point for four before he was caught by Wasim Haslim at long on off Lall.
His demise brought Lachigadoo and Foo together and they set about Operation Recovery for their team with a cautious approach, picking up the singles, before Lachigadoo struck Jacobs back over his head for one of his three sixes.
Foo joined the act by hitting both Jacobs and Amir Khan for four, followed by a six back over the head of Khan and over the commentator’s booth at the Southern End of the ground.
Another four from Foo, this time off the bowling of Trevon Griffith raised 100 for Berbice while Lachigadoo struck Jacobs for a four and later a six as Berbice raced to 132-2 from 30 overs.
Foo reached his first half-century, facing 72 balls and hitting three fours and one six in the process, while Lachigadoo faced 80 balls and struck two fours and a similar number of sixes for his 50.
Lachigadoo celebrated his half-century with a flat six off Lall then watched as Foo struck Carmichael for a four over extra cover, followed by a six back over the bowler’s head before he lost Lachigadoo who was bowled by Jacobs after facing 104 deliveries for his 76.
Foo was dismissed in Jacobs’ next over, stumped by Joseph Perry and from the comfortable position of 197-2 in the 39th over, Berbice crawled to 231-7 from their 47 overs, losing Hetmyer (3), Anthony Bramble (6) and Krisendat Ramoo (9) as Jacobs led the charge in the latter half of the innings.
Demerara’s reply got a rousing start from Griffith and Chandrika, with the former hitting right-arm fast bowler Keyron Fraser for three fours in one over, before he was bowled by national fast bowler Keon Joseph for a 30-ball 27.
Haslim responded to Griffith’s dismissal, with back-to-back fours off Fraser before he was dropped by La Fleur who had to run back from short midwicket to the edge of the circle when on 17 off Steven Latcha at 79-1 in the 11th over of Demerara’s innings.
The right-handed Chandrika who will be representing the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) High Performance Centre (HPC) team, along with Berbice’s Brandon Bess and Veerasammy Permaul, was the perfect foil for Haslim, picking up the singles as they pushed the score to 90-1 after 14 overs.
Chandrika was also given a life when Latcha grassed an easy return catch after the water break, following which he struck Krisendat Ramoo all along the ground for four, before posting his 50 from 74 balls, while Haslim struck La Fleur for back-to-back boundaries to post his 50 from 62 balls with six fours.
Chandrika celebrated his half-century with an audacious extra cover drive off Joseph before he was caught at the wicket by Bramble off Hetmyer for a well-played 55 that was decorated with two fours, at 164-2 in the 29th over, adding 116 for the second wicket with Haslim from 20.5 overs.
Demerara’s positive running between the wickets continued when Jacobs joined Haslim who used the reverse sweep to good effect, before Hetmyer bowled Jacobs for 9 at 189 in the 34th over of his team’s innings.
Vishal Singh, who was unbeaten on 20 (3×4) when victory was achieved, joined Haslim and unleashed a vicious square cut on Fraser that sped away to the point boundary for four, while Haslim soldiered on for Demerara with a four between cover and extra cover off Fraser whose line and length varied.
A direct hit by La Fleur from midwicket brought Haslim’s belligerent 81, made off 96 balls with eight fours at 198-4, to an end before Singh struck a Joseph free-hit through mid on for four to post the 200 in the 37th over for Demerara, who made up for their ragged fielding display with their responsible batting.
Singh was joined by Perry whose unbeaten 49 was the top score for Demerara when the two teams met last Friday, but he did not hang around long enough as he was bowled by Ramoo for 7 with victory a mere 11 runs away.
Carmichael (9*) joined Singh and ensured there were no more casualties, as he swung La Fleur over wide midwicket for four to seal the win for his team in the fourth over.