A LARGE and attractive crowd last Sunday were treated to an exhibition of power-hitting as the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club successfully honoured its first Test cricketer Assad Fudadin, by hosting the Carib Beer Day of Champions at the Albion Cricket Club (ACC) ground.

The crowd saw a record fifteen cricket balls lost after they were hit out of the venue, a total of 740 runs scored in 80 overs, a brutal t20 ton from Demerara Cricket Club’s (DCC) Christopher Barnwell along with stroke-filled innings from Fudadin, Gajanand Singh, Delbert Hicks, Kandasammy Surujnarine and Clinton Pestano.
The clash of the best four cricket clubs in Guyana, namely ACC, DCC, Rose Hall Town Gizmos and Gadgets (RHTGG), and Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) resulted in a draw with a victory each for Berbice and Demerara, after DCC got past ACC and RHTGG defeated GCC.
In the DCC versus ACC affair, the eventual winners chose to bat first after winning the toss against a team with four West Indies players and found themselves in trouble when Andrew Lyght was bowled by Sewnarine Chattergoon for 1 and Trevon Griffith caught off Narsingh Deonarine for 9 to be 11 for 2.
A brilliant third-wicket partnership of 122 in 10 overs between Barnwell and Gajanand Singh, brought the crowd to their feet before the latter was dismissed for a well-played 56 (8×4).
His dismissal did not deter Barnwell who continued to assault the home team’s bowling and ended unbeaten on an even century that included five fours and four sixes. He received support from Jamal Hinckson 18*, Dennis Squires 16 and Derwin Christian 15, as DCC reached 217 for 5 from their 20 overs.
Needing to score at close to 11 runs per over, Albion lost former West Indies opener Sewnarine Chattergoon for 9, caught off Squires at 13 for 1 in the second over, but Surujnarine and Narsingh Deonarine added 35 for the second wicket before Deonarine was caught for 16.
Purposeful batting from Surujnarine 78 not (8×4, 1×6) and Jonathan Foo 43 (4×4, 3×6) was not enough to prevent a DCC victory as Albion ended on 193 for 5 to lose the encounter by 24 runs, with Squires taking 2 for 28 for DCC.
In the second game, the hosts RHTGG were asked to bat first by GCC, who must have regretted doing so, as they watched their opponents rattle up an impressive 179 for 4 off their 20 overs.
Delbert Hicks top-scored with 67 (5×4, 6×6), Pestano an explosive 57 that took him 20 deliveries to accumulate, decorated with five sixes and two fours and Fudadin who also plays for GCC occasionally, 46 with five fours.
Left- arm spinner Raj Nannan took 3 for 40 for GCC who, in responsenever looked like threatening the target and found themselves in early trouble, as their hosts had them reeling on 22 for 3 in the sixth over.
Skipper Leon Johnson 32, Jeetendra Sookdeo 29 and Gavin Singh batted well to enable them to reach 150 for 9 at the end of their allotted overs, as Dominique Rikhi 2 for 19, Shailendra Shameer 2 for 29 and Eon Hooper 2 for 30 bowled well for RHTGG.
At the presentation ceremony Secretary/CEO of RHTYSC Hilbert Foster declared the Day of Champions an unbelievable success and expressed gratitude to the sponsors, the large crowd and the four teams for making the club’s honouring of Fudadin a success.
Foster stated that the club was very proud of its first Test cricketer and expressed hope that many others will follow in his footstep.
GCC president Lionel Jaikarran thanked the RHTYSC for organising a great day of cricket and disclosed that his club would invite the Berbice teams to Georgetown for a return trip.
The club also honoured dependable West Indies middle-order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul with a plaque donated by Ramesh Sunich of the Trophy Stall in Bourda Market and Hadi’s City Mall, while the GCC and ailing former Test player Ivor Mendonca also received a financial contribution from the gate proceeds.
Foster hailed Chanderpaul for his contribution to West Indies cricket and being a role model to youths, while he expressed gratitude to Ansa McAl (Carib Beer), Sterling Products Limited, Guyoil, Farfan and Mendes, Hand-in-Hand Group of Companies, DTV-8, Guysuco, Peter Lewis and the three cricket teams, for making the event a success.