THANKS to the bowling of Mark Tyrell, Essequibo, who are known as the perennial whipping boys in local cricket, had a million reasons to smile yesterday, when they took first-innings points from GT&T Berbice on the penultimate day of action in the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Inter-County four-day tournament at the Wales Community Centre ground.

At the Demerara Cricket Club ground in Queenstown, Demerara and the President’s XI were locked in a battle for first-innings points, with the former who started the day on 157 for 5 progressing to 365 before they were bowled out. In reply the President’s XI were 62 for 2 at the close.
Essequibo resumed on their overnight position of 123 for 9, with Mark Gonsalves (10) and Herry Greene (3) being their not-out batsmen and the duo pushed their side to 140, before Gonsalves was bowled by Gudakesh Motie (4-34) for 17.
Gonsalves added 24 valuable runs for the 10th wicket with Herry Greene who was unbeaten on 13 for the Essequibians, against the bowling of Motie who got support from Eon Hooper 2 for 23, Clinton Pestano 2 for 39 and Keon Joseph 1 for 22.
When GT&T Berbice began their reply, they met a stubborn bowling performance from Tyrell, whose career-best 6 for 14, decimated their powerful batting lineup for 90, as only Delbert Hicks 29 (2×6) and Jason Sinclair 17 offered any resistance.
In fact, GT&T Berbice, known to be the powerhouse in local cricket, were shakily placed on 21 for 3 at tea, having lost the wickets of Sewnarine Chattergoon (4), Richard Ramdeen (5) and Gajanand Singh (3), with Tyrell taking two of those wickets at that stage.
After tea, Tyrell got worthy support from Anthony Adams, whose 2 for 35 coupled with Herry Greene and Kemo Paul’s one wicket each for 3 and 10 runs respectfully, helped hand their team a 50-run first-innings lead when they begin their second innings on the final day today.
At DCC, Vishal Singh who resumed on 9 and Zaheer Mohammed yet to score pushed Demerara to 178 before Mohammed was caught at the wicket by Anthony Bramble off Brandon Bess (3 for 48), followed by the demise of Paul Wintz (0), who picked out Tagenarine Chanderpaul at point, also off Bess.
At 181 for 7, the President’s XI thought they would have wrapped up the Demerara team’s batting early, but Shaquille Williams joined Vishal Singh and dominated a 131-run eighth-wicket partnership with the left-hander, hitting 14 fours in his 78 that took him 105 deliveries to aggregate.
He was lbw to Seon Daniels (4 for 82), but that only allowed Kellon Carmichael to join forces with Singh to add 46 for the ninth wicket, with Carmichael contributing half of that total with four fours, before he was adjudged lbw to Elton Baker (2 for 16).
It was all over for Demerara, when Baker had Vishal Singh, who faced 278 deliveries and struck seven fours in his 82, caught low down to his left by substitute Devon Clements at mid on, leaving Amir Khan unbeaten on 3, as Demerara added 206 runs to their overnight total while losing their last five wickets.
When the President’s XI began their reply, Chanderpaul opened his account with a wonderful flick off Wintz to fine leg for four, followed by another through point off the same bowler, but not before he survived a confident appeal for a catch at the wicket off the previous delivery.
The wiles of Khan accounted for both Chanderpaul who was bowled for 19 (3×4, 43 balls; 81 mins) and his opening partner Krishna Arjune 24 (2×4, 72 balls 94 mins), who was caught at the wicket by a tumbling Joseph Perry, with the wickets falling at 53 and 58 respectively.
At the close of play, the President’s XI were 62 for 2 off 28 overs, with Jeetendra Sookdeo (3) and Steven Latcha (1) being their not-out batsmen and when play resumes today, they will be hoping to score the remaining 304 runs to snare first-innings points from the opposition.