UNEXPECTED rainfall last Sunday prevented points leaders Malteenoes Sports Club (MSC) and Gandhi Youth Organisation (GYO) from recording victories when action in the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA)-organised Carib Beer/Friends of Cricket/Heroes Cup two-day first division competition continued.

Playing on their Thomas Lands-based home ground, MSC won the toss and invited their neighbours to take first strike, dismissing them for 133 with Quinn Proctor 50, Shae Chase 26 and Sunil Singh 24 being their leading batsmen.
Steven Sankar (3) and Danny Narayan (2) were the leading wickettakers for MSC, who replied with 218 all out, thanks to Dion Ferrier’s unbeaten 101 that contained 10 fours and three sixes, while Kwame Crosse counted seven fours in his 38.
Kevin Ross took 5 for 32 and Keon Morris 3 for 49 for TSC, who were faced with a first-innings deficit of 85 runs at the end of the first day’s play, which they reduced to 70, after being 15 for 3 when the heavens opened and forced an early end to the day’s action.
At the Demerara Cricket Club ground in Queenstown, GYO faced a red-hot Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC) and must have been smiling broadly, when they had their opponents shakily placed at 7f or 2, thanks to Leon Scott’s opening burst.
However, GNIC skipper Elton Baker who made 164 (16×4, 5×6) and Collis Butts 30(5×4), repaired the damage by adding 103 for the fourth wicket, while Baker added a further 154 with Dexter Solomon 65 (3×4, 2×6) for the fifth wicket, before GNIC were bowled out for 305.
Scott, Pravindralall Persaud, Brian Sattaur finished with two wickets each for 34, 35 and 38 runs respectively for GYO, who lost Sattaur early in their reply before recovering to finish on 134 for 2 at the end of the first day’s play, with Anthony Ifill departing for 64, while Tagenarine Chanderpaul was unbeaten on 24.
Needing to score another 172 runs for first innings points when play resumed on the final day, GYO who were forced to contend with a lengthy rain delay, batted a further 27 overs before being dismissed for 177, with Butts picking up 6 for 43 and Premchand Sookdeo 3 for 22.
With a lead of 128 runs, GNIC went in search of quick runs to accommodate an early declaration, but were given a setback by Scott, who dismissed Marc Nicholson (0) and Sookdeo (0) in his first over, before picking up two more wickets to reduce his team’s opponents to 24 for 6.
Asked to score 153 to record a come-from-behind victory, GYO were in with a chance as they raced to 76 for 1, losing the wicket of Sattaur who made an aggressive 44 in his attempt to see his team home, but could not do so as close of play brought an end to an exciting encounter.