THE Berbice Cricket Board-organised, Hand-in-Hand-sponsored 40 overs tournament for cricket teams in West Berbice got off to an exciting start last weekend at various venues across Region 5, with five teams registering victories.
The tournament, which is sponsored by the Hand-in-Hand Group of Companies, forms part of the effort of the BCB to promote the development of the game in the neglected areas, and saw promising 14-year-old off-spinner Akeem Miller take the opportunity to impress with 6 for 23, playing for Blairmont in their matchup against Cotton Tree Die Hard.
Results in the matches played:
At Cotton Tree ground, the home team Cotton Tree Die Hard defeated Blairmont ‘B’ by a massive 160 runs, after amassing 223 in 30.2 overs, with Taj Singh 51 (3×4, 4×6) and Jagdeo Persaud 32 (4×4, 1×6) being the principal scorers.
Miller received support from Marcus France who took 2 for 58 for Blairmont ‘B’ who in their turn at the crease, were dismissed for 63. Only Arfan Khan, 31, offered resistance to off-spinners Nashad Gafoor and Roshan Gafoor who took four wickets each for 24 and 11 runs respectively.
At Shieldstown, the home team defeated Woodley Park #11 by four runs. Batting first Shieldstown were dismissed for 138 in 30.3 overs. Heeralall Bridgelall top-scored with 30 and Aftar Ghanie supported with 29.
J. Nurse took 2 for 24 for Woodley Park who replied with 130 all out in 33.2 overs with S. Beharry 39 and D. Bridgelall 20 being the leading batsmen against the bowling of Ghanie who took 3 for 15.
In the matchup at Bush Lot, the home team squeezed past Sundown of Cotton Tree by 3 runs but face a protest as the losers are appealing the match, claiming their opponents played three first division players instead of one.
Scores:  Bush Lot Challengers – 128 runs in 28 Overs. Angelo Sukhall 28, A. Mathadeck 21. Sundown –125 in 29.2 overs. Parmanand Singh 36, S. Rahaman 29, Angela Sukhall 3 for 20, Asif Khan 2 for 20.
At the Hopetown ground, Hopetown United defeated a young No. 7 Silver Park team by nine wickets after bowling them out for a meagre 38 runs. Emerson Benjamin had bowling figures of 6 for 14 runs and Steffon Adams 2 for 7, as only Joshua Oswin reached double figures with 11 while J. Adams made 21 and C. Paul 16 in Hopetown’s 39 for 1 which was scored off 5.1 overs.
No. 4 Cricket Club created the first major upset when they defeated Achievers by eight wickets at the Lovely Lass ground. Batting first Achievers were bowled out for 90 in 25.4 overs with Kurt Griffith 17, Quacy McPherson 13 and Grisean Grant 16 being the top scorers.
S. Asgar took 4 for 17 and A. Johnson 3 for 23 for No. 4 Cricket Club, who replied with 91 for 2 from 15 overs, thanks to Asgar and Derek Misir’s unbeaten innings of 30 and 28 respectively.
The tournament continues this weekend with several matches.