EVEN without the services of their two most experienced players in West Indies middle-order batsmen Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, Guyana’s CT20 team kept their unbeaten record intact, when they disposed of a Berbice Titans lineup by six wickets at the Guyana National Stadium last Thursday night.

This was mainly due to the bowling of their spinners led by off-spinning all-rounder Steven Jacobs whose 4 for 14, backed by Royston Crandon and Devendra Bishoo who took two wickets each for 11 and 12 runs respectively, limiting the Titans to 91 from 19.5 overs.
In reply, the Veerasammy Permaul-led National CT20 unit reached 94 for 4 from 15.2 overs, thanks to Trevon Griffith’s 22 and Leon Johnson’s 20, with both batsmen hitting two fours in their innings, before they ended on 127 for 8 from their 20 overs, enabling Clinton Pestano to snare 4 for 22.
However, the Titans had something to smile about, when they took the Super Over encounter that was contested between the two sides, limiting the National CT20 lineup to 11 without loss and replying with 12 without loss in the process.
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, the Titans found the bowling of Jacobs, Crandon and Bishoo, coupled with the exemplary ground fielding from the National CT20 lineup, too much to their discomfort and lost wickets at regular intervals.
Skipper Sewnarine Chattergoon top-scored with 22, hitting two of the three boundaries in his team’s innings – a testament to the line and length that was bowled by their opponents, receiving support from Delbert Hicks 12 (1×4) and Assad Fudadin’s 10.
In contrast to the Titans’ innings, the National CT20 lineup got an enterprising start from Griffith and Derwin Christian who both struck Keon Joseph and Eon Hooper for a pair of boundaries in the second and third overs of their team’s innings, on their way to adding 28 for the first wicket.
Christian was the first to go, bowled by Hooper for 15 (2×4) in the fifth over and he was followed by Griffith, who was caught by Chattergoon off Eugene La Fleur four overs later, not before Johnson had struck Chattergoon for two fours in the sixth over.
La Fleur removed Johnson and Pestano accounted for Narsingh Deonarine, whose 18 included a six over midwicket off Gajanand Singh, as the Titans fought to restrict their opponents – an act that was meaningless – as Jonathan Foo (12, 2×4) and Christopher Barnwell (4) saw their team home, with Foo hitting the first two deliveries of the 16th over from Joseph for boundaries to seal the win.
Opting to bat out their remaining overs, the National CT20 lineup lost the wickets of Barnwell, Foo, Crandon 12 (1×4; 1×6) and Jacobs 11 (1×4), before Permaul (4) and Bishoo (1) ensured there was no further damage, taking them to 127 for 8 from their 20 overs.
They got a bright start to the Super Over contest, when Barnwell struck the first two deliveries from Pestano over squareleg and wide midwicket for 4 and 6, but that was the last hurrah as he only managed one run off the final four deliveries.
In reply, Gajanand Singh pulled Permaul’s first delivery to the backward sqaureleg fence for four, while together with Fudadin, he eased the Titans home off the final delivery.
The National CT20 team will break their encampment period tomorrow morning for the holiday season, return to the Chetram Singh Centre of Excellence next Thursday for another three-day period, break camp on the December 30 and depart Guyana on January 4 for Trinidad and Tobago.