Dowlin, Johnson hit tons as Demerara claim innings victory inside two days
ESSEQUIBO’S inept batting display in Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)-organised tournaments continued yesterday when they suffered an innings and 38-run defeat at the hands of Demerara inside two days at the Anna Regina Community Centre ground yesterday.
Discarded West Indies opener Travis Dowlin and his national teammate Leon Johnson both struck unbeaten tons in their double-century fourth-wicket partnership to enable Demerara to declare their first innings close at 281-3 at lunch yesterday, before bowling out Essequibo for 121.
Scores in the match: Essequibo 122 and 121, Demerara 281-3 declared.
Dowlin faced 222 delivers, hitting 11 fours and three sixes in his 113 which took him 309 minutes to compile, while Johnson batted for 201 minutes and struck 10 fours and three sixes for his 105 as they added 210 runs for the fourth wicket.
Needing to clear a deficit of 159 runs when asked to take the crease for the second time by discarded West Indies middle order batsman, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Essequibo crumbled from 102-4 at tea to be bowled out for 121, 38 minutes after the break.
Both Johnson and Dowlin started the day in authoritative manner, with the former hitting Dillon Heyliger (3-67) through forward of square in the second over of the day for back-to-back boundaries while Dowlin pulled Royan Fredericks over cover for four to raise his team’s 200 in the 49th over.
Not even a 33-minute break due to rain could have cooled the tempo of the two middle order batsmen, and when play resumed, they tore into the Cinderella County team’s bowling attack like a pack of wolves on the hunt for food.
Dowlin struck Anthony Adams through midwicket twice for four while a short ball from Imran Khan was dispatched over midwicket for six to carry the Demerara Cricket Club right-hander into the nervous 90s, at which time he eased his foot off the accelerator to raise his 100 from 211 balls with 10 fours and three sixes.
Johnson followed suit shortly after with a four through midwicket off Xavier McDonald, taking 140 deliveries and 198 minutes to do so while hitting the same number of boundaries as his senior partner at the other end, joining Dowlin and Royston Crandon as centurions in this year’s tournament.
The 33-year-old Dowlin, who played six Test matches for the West Indies, scoring 343 runs at an average of 31.18 and a highest score of 95 made against Bangladesh last year, celebrated his ton by punching Royan Fredericks through extra cover with authority.
The Essequibians were more reactive than proactive on the second morning and seemed more intent on wondering when their opposition would declare rather than trying their best to take wickets.
They had one opportunity to do so, when McDonald, who was belatedly handed the ball by his skipper, failed to hold onto a head-high offer from Johnson when the left-hander was on 91 and Demerara 261-3 in the 64th over of their innings off the last delivery of his first over.
Essequibo’s reply began in shotgun style, with both Royan Fredericks (23) and Kenzo Baksh (14) hitting Trevon Garraway who took 2-25 (match haul 6-41) and Christopher Barnwell for boundaries as they added 38 for the first wicket.
The introduction of spin in the form of Amir Khan (3-41) and Steven Jacobs (2-28) engineered the breakthrough as the latter had Baksh adjudged lbw followed by the removal of Ryan Fredericks who was caught at the wicket by Derwin Christian to leave Essequibo on 43-2 in the 16th over.
Kevin Boodie 24 (94×4) and Heyliger 25 (3×4) added 34 for the third wicket, with Boodie hitting Amir Khan forward of square for back-to-back boundaries while Heyliger pulled a short delivery from Garraway through backward square for four.
When he looked set to post a decent total, following a neatly timed drive through extra cover off Zaheer Mohammed (2-15), he played forward to a delivery that pitched outside off stump and watched in a dismal manner as the ball turned and struck his middle stump.
Young Ricardo Adams (0) has the ability to hit the ball hard, but needs to learn to mix aggression with defence as he picked out Barnwell at cover off the third delivery he faced, leaving Essequibo on 77-4 which was pushed to 101 at tea, thanks to Heyliger and Anthony Adams 19 (3×4).
The elder Adams struck Mohammed for two fours, followed by another off Khan, while Heyliger also struck Jacobs for two fours before tea.
But the regular inept batting display of the home team resurfaced after tea, starting with the demise of Heyliger who was caught at point by Vishal Singh when he looked to cut Khan over that area.
Anthony Adams was lbw to Garraway while Norwayne Fredericks who was forced to bat at seven due to an injured toenail that he had removed earlier in the day, was bamboozled by Amir Khan who extracted lots of bounce and turn off the wicket.
Keron Sewnarine (0), Beaton (4) and Imran Khan (1) all fell in quick succession, as Essequibo lost their last six wickets for 19 runs from 8.2 overs after tea, handing a jubilant Demerara team two days vacation.

SCOREBOARD

ESSEQUIBO first innings 122 (N. Fredericks 39, A. Adams 27; T. Garraway 4-16. A. Khan 4-48)
DEMERARA first innings (o/n 173-3)
T. Dowlin not out    113
T. Griffith lbw Heyliger    4
V. Singh c McDonald b Heyliger    22
S. Jacobs c wkp. Baksh b Heyliger    2
L. Johnson not out    105
Extras: (b-13, lb-2, w-7, nb-13)    35
Total: (for 3 wickets decl’d off 68 overs)    281
Bowling: Beaton 9-0-42-0, Heyliger 17-1-67-3, A. Adams 17-1-59-0, I. Khan 9-1-27-0, R. Fredericks 11-2-41-0, R. Adams 2-0-11-0, X. McDonald 3-0-19-0

ESSEQUIBO second innings
R. Fredericks c wkp. Christian b Jacobs    23
K. Baksh lbw Jacobs    14
K. Boodie b Mohammed    24
D. Heyliger c Singh b A. Khan    25
R. Adams c Barnwell b Mohammed    0
A. Adams lbw Garraway    19
N. Fredericks b Khan    5
K. Sewnarine lbw Garraway    0
X. McDonald not out    2
R. Beaton run-out    4
I. Khan b A. Khan    1
Extras: (b-1, lb-3)    4
Total: (all out, off 38.2 overs)    121
Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-43, 3-77, 4-77, 5-108, 6-110, 7-114, 8-114, 9-119.
Bowling: Garraway 9-2-25-2, Barnwell 3-1-8-0, A. Khan 14.2-2-41-3, Jacobs 8-1-28-2, Mohammed 4-1-15-2.