Khan takes six but match evenly poised
FIRST-CLASS leg-spinner Amir Khan continued to be a torment to batsmen at the Under-19 level, when he took 6 wickets for 41 runs for Demerara against defending champions Cellink Berbice in their final round match of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)-organised, GTM-sponsored Under-19 Inter-county tournament at the Police Sports Club ground yesterday. Scores in the match to date: Cellink Berbice 141 off 65.1 overs, Demerara 58 for 3 off 43 overs.
When play got under way one hour late due to early morning rain, Cellink Berbice, who like Demerara defeated Essequibo in their first round encounter at the Guyana National Stadium last week, opted to bat on a track that had uneven bounce and an extremely heavy and over-grassed outfield in the battle of the points leaders.
However, they must have been smiling in the dressing room, when Jamally Odle 16 (3×4) who replaced Kevin Ramdeen for this encounter, struck fast bowler Kevin Ogle (1-29) for two fours in the first over of the match.
He followed it with another in the ninth over off the same bowler, before he was caught at the wicket two balls later as he attempted an expansive drive to a ball that pitched and left him, with the score reading 29 for 1.
At lunch, Cellink Berbice were 38 for one with Kandasammy Surujnarine and Dominique Rikhi being the not-out batsmen on 19 and one respectively, but during the lunch to tea break, it was all Khan, who bowled unchanged as Cellink Berbice were dismissed for 141 from 65.1 overs.
Surujnarine was bowled by Neil Barry Jr for 24 at 43 for 2, while Rikhi went lbw to Raj Nannan for 11, 12 runs later following which Khan took the next five wickets to fall, as Cellink Berbice slipped from 75 for 3 to 135 for 8, losing five wickets for 60 runs.
The defending champions’ 100 was posted during a 32-run fifth-wicket partnership between Kelvin Leitch (9) and Linden Austin (25), with Leitch hitting Khan over long on for 6, with the ball crashing into and breaking Demerara coach Orin Bailey’s windscreen, before he was stumped by Mangal off Khan.
When Demerara batted they lost Steve Ramdass (2) who was lbw to Gudakesh Motie, Chandrapaul Hemraj who was also lbw to Lloydel Lewis for 18 and Jahran Byron (4) to be 42 for 3, but skipper Kwame Crosse and opener Christopher Surat saw them to safety when play was called off at 18:00hrs.
Surat is unbeaten on 24 that includes one six struck off Pereira while Crosse is on 7. When play gets under way at 10:00hrs today, Demerara will be looking to not only survive the spin attack from the Ancient County, but also score the remaining 84 runs they need to gain a physiological first innings points lead.