Upper Corentyne hit back as 16 wickets tumble on day one
By Rajiv Bisnauth
EAST Coast Demerara bowled out Upper Corentyne for a paltry 149 but found batting tough themselves on the opening day of the second round of the Jaguars Franchise League Three-day competition yesterday at the Enterprise Busta Sports Club ground.At stumps, the hosts were 129-6 in reply, Test opener Rajendra Chandrika on 31 and Amir Khan on 14, set to resume on the second morning after the Corentyne bowlers battled hard to prevent the hosts from completely dominating day one.
Off-spinner Eon Hooper and leg-spinner Shawn Pereira led the rout for the visitors with 3-20 and 2-15 respectively on a surface that held few terrors for the batsmen. Pacer Clinton Pestano chipped in with one scalp.
Earlier the batting conditions were not easy, with the odd ball staying low, and, combined with an outfield the speed of a wet golf green, it made life challenging for the batsmen.
Asked to bat under overcast conditions, after play began 30 minutes late due to a slight shower, the visitors went to lunch with four wickets down.
Openers Jason Sinclair and discarded Test opener Assad Fudadin did put up some resistance, with a first-wicket stand of 29.
But pacer Paul Wintz made the first breakthrough when he moved a delivery away just enough to kiss the outside edge of Sinclair’s bat and Amir Khan completed a simple catch at third slip to dismiss the right-hander for 10.
Spin was introduced within the first hour of play, and off-spinner Vivian Albert extracted more than a little bit of turn to remove both Fudadin (18) and Joshua Ramsammy without scoring.
Wintz then completed a stunning period for the hosts, with the wicket of Troy Gonsalves without scoring, with all four wickets falling at 29.
Anthony Bramble and Arif Chan reassembled things with a 37-run unbroken stand by lunch.
However, the pair failed to capitalise on the promising partnership and pacer Gavin Moriah was soon among the wickets when he removed Bramble for 30. Clinton Pestano was run-out for 23, while Hooper could not provide any sort of resistance, and fell to part-time spinner Chanderpaul Hemraj for one.
Things went from bad to worse for the visitors, as Amir Khan then got into the act, with the wickets of Chan (19) and Pereira (0).
After Pereira’s exit, Keon Sinclair entertained the small contingent of Berbice fans with a brief cameo – including four fours and two sixes before leg-spinner Steven Sankar claimed the final wicket of Omesh Mathura for seven.
Wintz, Albert and Khan finished with two wickets apiece, while Moriah, Sankar and Hemraj were the other successful bowlers.
Despite impressing with the ball, the hosts struggled with the bat early on as Gavin Boodwah was taken out by Pestano for a duck in the fourth ball of the innings.
Chanderpaul Hemraj, who opened with Boodwah, after regular opener Rajendra Chandrika was given time out during the morning session, did not do much better as he only mustered four runs before falling victim to Hooper, leaving the hosts at 19-2.
Kamesh Yadram and his younger sibling Bhaskar Yadram then constructed a 54-run partnership for the third wicket before both batsmen were trapped leg-before to Hooper for 26 and 44 respectively.
Pereira then removed both Ramnarine Chatura and Albert without scoring.
In the other second-round matches, Lower Corentyne closed on 123-3, replying to Georgetown’s 212 all out; Essequibo, replying to West Berbice first-innings 172, reached 111-8 and East Bank closed on 55-2 in response to West Demerara’s first-innings 253.
