WHEN Demerara, the lone team to play unbeaten in this year’s Guyana Cricket Board/Raj Singh Insurance Inter-county Under-19 limited overs tournament, met with the National Under-17 in the second round, they won by 66 runs, posting 326 for 4 and then reducing their opponents to 260 for 9.In that match, Tevin Imloch recorded his maiden ton at this level – an unbeaten 131 – and skipper Travis Persaud stroked a classy 73, but it was the memorable innings of Shurfane Rutherford, who struck 10 sixes and two fours in his unbeaten 70 that took him 19 balls to accumulate that left tongues wagging.

While it is yet to be ratified, some anonymous sources believe that Rutherford has eclipsed South Africa’s AB deVilliers’ 16 balls half-century scored against the West Indies last January, on his way to a world record 30-ball ODI ton, even though at two different levels of the game.
Prior to his innings in the limited overs version, Rutherford, who is known as a hard-hitting opening batsman with Demerara Cricket Club (DCC), chalked up his maiden first division ton against Georgetown Cricket Club last year and followed it up with an unbeaten second-innings half-century.
For today’s encounter – weather permitting – he, along with Imloch who has an appetite for scoring heavily, Travis Persaud, Ronaldo Renee, Malcolm Hubbard, Akshaya Persaud, Daniel Basdeo and Carlton Jacques, would be looking to repeat their second-round performance.
However, captain of the Under-17 unit Ronaldo Ali-Mohammed would be looking to turn around the fortunes for his team, who defeated Essequibo in the first round by 11 runs, and to stop the winning streak of Demerara.
Openers Raymond Perez, Bhaskar Yadram and Joshua Persaud should be trying to lay a foundation for their team, on which Ali-Mohammed, Adrian Sukhwah, Kevin Sinclair, Ramnarine Chatura and the vast improving Ashmead Nedd can build on and post a challenging total for the defending champions.
Teams Demerara: Travis Persaud (captain); Ronaldo Renee; Malcolm Hubbard; Akshaya Persaud; Sherfane Rutherford; Tevin Imloch; Carlton Jacques; Gavin Moriah (vice-captain); Ershad Alli; Vivian Albert; Daniel Basdeo; Tariq Dharamlall; Mark Hamilton; and Chetnarine Pooran.
Guyana Under-17 squad: Ronaldo Ali Mohamed (captain); Raymond Perez; Joshua Persaud; Adrian Sukhwah; Ramnarine Chatura; Bhaskar Yadram; Kevin Sinclair; Richie Looknauth; Timothy McAlmont; Steve Deonarine; Ashmead Nedd; Joshua Jones; Sylus Tyndall; Asif Ally; Sagar Hetheramani; Romain Muniram; and Tameshwar Motieram.

By Calvin Roberts