… Batson 66, Rikhi (34 and 55 n.o) and Ivan (4 for 6 and 4 for 16) shine.
AFTER a week-end of the last preliminary rounds, Rose Hall Town Gizmos and Gadgets and Young Warriors have earned their places in the semi-finals of the inaugural Berbice Cricket Board-organised, Universal DVD Club-sponsored first division Twenty20 cricket competition.
Led by former Berbice batsman Renwick Batson who slammed 66 (9×4, 2×6), his second consecutive half-century and 34 from Guyana Under-19 batsman Dominic Rikhi, RHTGG made 160 for 4 against Skeldon Community Centre who could reply with only 103 all out.
Berbice all-rounder Rajiv Ivan continued his impressive showing with the ball, by taking 4 for 6 from two overs for RHTGG, who in their second match, were once again led by Ivan who took 4 for 16, Shawn Pereira (3 for 26) and an unbeaten 55 (4×4, 2×6) from Rikhi to defeat Police ‘B’ Division.
Guyana’s T20 batsman Richard Ramdeen took 2 for 17 from two overs with his left-arm spin and returned to hit three fours and one six in his 37 to steer Young Warriors to victory over West Berbice, as they ended as runners-up to RHTGG in Group B with 12 points.
West Berbice also registered two victories over the week-end to end on 8 points, but failed to make the semifinals.
Led by a good all-round performance from their Berbice cricketer Krisendat Ramoo who made an unbeaten 33, which together with Steffon Adams’ unbeaten 39 and 32 from Rafael Estriado, West Berbice reached an imposing 156 for 3 against Police “B” Division.
Ramoo returned to scalp 4 for 11 while national fast bowler Keon Joseph picked up 3 for 17 to help bowl their team to a 78 run win over the lawmen, while Ramoo’s 2 for 18 helped guide West Berbice to their second victory, this time over Skeldon Community Centre.
In scores from the matches played:
At Area ‘H’, RHTGG won the toss and opting to bat first, reached 160 for 4 from their 20 overs, with Batson 66, Rikhi 34, Eon Hooper 20 and Ivan 20* being the principal scorers, while Skeldon Community Centre were bowled out for 103 from 17 overs in reply.
Narendra Gopaul 28, Mark Lionel 21 and Anthony Bramble 18 led Skeldon’s batting against the bowling of Ivan (4 for 6), former Berbice Under-19 off-spinner Eon Hooper 2 for 17 and national Under-19 fast bowler Clinton Pestano with 2 for 20.
At Cumberland, RHTGG bowled out Police ‘B’ Division, who chose to bat first on winning the toss, for 107 with Rocky Hutson 26 and Michael Hicks 25 leading the batting while Ivan, 4 for 16, and Pereira, 3 for 26, led RHTGG’s bowling.
The visitors reached 110 for 4 from 13.4 overs in reply, with Rikhi hitting an unbeaten 55, Ivan 29 and Delbert Hicks 18.
At Bush Lot in West Berbice, Young Warriors beat West Berbice by 6 wickets.
West Berbice won the toss and batting first made 128 before being bowled out in 19.2 overs, with Ralph Ogle 28, Ramoo 19 and Keith Fraser 19 leading their batting even as Ramdeen 2 for 17, his younger brother Kevin Ramdeen 2 for 23 and Linden Austin 2 for 26 did the damage with the ball for Young Warriors, who reached 129 for 4 from 18 overs in reply, thanks to Richard Ramdeen 37 and Balram Samaroo 26 not out.
At Cumberland, West Berbice were asked to take first strike after losing the toss and made 156 for 3 in 20 overs with Adams 39 not out, Ramoo 33 not out, Estriado 32 and Kwesi Mentore 26 offering major contributions.
In reply, Police ‘B’ Division were bowled out for 78 in 15 overs with Richards 22 being the top scorer against the bowling of Ramoo who took 4 for 11 and Joseph with 3 for 17 for West Berbice.
At Bush Lot in West Berbice, West Berbice beat Skeldon Community Centre by four wickets in a fixture that was reduced to 15 overs a side, following late preparation of the wicket.
Batting first after they lost the toss, Skeldon Community Centre reached 78 for 5 with Bramble top-scoring with 22 while Jermaine Reid made 16, as Ramoo took 2 for 18 for West Berbice, who reached 79 for 6 from 13.1 overs in reply, thanks to Fraser’s 16 and Estriado’s 15 with Reid and Sherwin Murray taking two wickets each for 18 and 20 runs respectively for Skeldon.
Group B points standing after the four preliminary round matches reads: RHTGG (16 points), Young Warriors (12 points), West Berbice (8 points), Skeldon Community Centre (4 points) and Police ‘B’ Division (0 points).
Meanwhile, the semifinals of the tournament will be played on Monday starting from 09:00hrs with a double-header affair at the Blairmont Community Centre ground. Young Warriors will oppose Memorex Bermine while RHTGG will take on Blairmont from 13:00hrs.