DEMERARA skipper Travis Persaud stroked a resilient half-century for his side, who were held to an exciting draw by perennial whipping boys Essequibo, at the end of the third day of their Guyana Cricket Board/Raj Singh Insurance Under-19 Inter-county three-day encounter yesterday.Playing at the Everest Cricket Club ground, Demerara began their second innings with a lead of 35, after bowling out the Essequibians late in the previous afternoon, and were bowled out for 180 on the stroke of the extended tea session, after being 42 for 4.

Set 216 to win in the final session, Essequibo, who saw Keanu Harry finish with 2 for 56 (9 for 123) to be named the Man-of-the-Match, were indebted to Nathan Persaud’s entertaining 33 (7×4) as they reached 71 for 3 off 18 overs, when play was called off at 16:47hrs.
Earlier in the day, Tevin Imloch started positively by hitting the first ball of the day from Jewmal Hartman for 4, but lost Ronaldo Renee (2) who was caught by Akini Adams at backward square leg off Neyland Cadogan (2 for 18) in the second over.
Further trouble faced the home team, when Hartman sent Shurfane Rutherford’s middle stump cart-wheeling in the following over before he had scored, after which Imloch was lbw to Cadogan at 23 for 3.
Prior to Imloch’s dismissal, Akshaya Persaud was forced to retire hurt when on 2 at 14 for 2, after being struck on the knee by Hartman, enabling Travis Persaud and Malcolm Hubbard to push the score to 42, before Hubbard was caught on the deep midwicket boundary by Parmesh Parsotam off Looknauth Chinkoo for 18 (2×4), just before lunch.
The home team took the break on 54 for 4, with Travis Persaud on 15 and Vivian Albert 1. When play resumed, Albert was forced to retire hurt following a shoulder injury and this allowed his skipper and Ershad Alli to push their team’s score to 109, with their 67-run partnership.
Alli started shakily but grew in confidence, as both batsmen took the attack to the Essequibians, with Travis Persaud hitting Parsotam for two fours in his first over, while Alli hit Harry for a magnificent four on the up over extra cover, to post the 100.
Persaud got to his 50 from 117 balls while batting for 131 minutes with five fours, but from 109 for 4, Demerara slipped to 119 for 6, losing both Travis Persaud and Alli to Adams and Harry respectively, and later 135 for 7 when Albert, who resumed his innings on his skipper’s demise, was lbw to Harry for 10.
Akshaya Persaud, who was later unbeaten on 32 (78 balls, 3×4), pushed the score to 157 with Daniel Basdeo (10), before both Basdeo and Tariq Dharamlall (0) were dismissed by Chinkoo (3 for 27).
Once again, Carlton Jacques displayed a level head to post 23 valuable runs for the final wicket with Akshaya Persaud, as they forced the umpires to extend the post tea session by 30 minutes, before Jacques pushed one back to Adams.
When the Essequibians began their run chase for an unlikely come-from-behind victory, they lost Satesh Latchana (2), bowled by Rutherford.
But it was a demise that had no effect on Nathan Persaud, who pulled and drove the Demerara bowlers to the boundary with such authority, that five of his seven fours came in two overs from Jacques and Rutherford.
Two pull shots over square leg from Rutherford’s bowling, brought oohs and aahs from his teammates and those gathered at the venue, while he drove Jacques exquisitely through extra with the grace, poise and elegance of a young Carl Hooper.
Basdeo removed him, caught pulling by Dharamlall at mid on and even though David Williams got a six off Basdeo, it was a foregone conclusion that the game would end in a draw, which when called off saw Williams on 21 and his skipper Travis Drakes on 13 (2×4).

By Calvin Roberts