By Elroy Stephney

A COMBINATION of brilliance from Parmanand Persaud and Boomesh Ramdahin piloted Cotton Field SC from Central Essequibo into the semi-final playoffs in the South and Central Cricket Committees-sponsored T20 zoning competition in Essequibo.

On Sunday at the Anna Regina Secondary School ground in Cotton Field, the hosts had to play and win consecutive matches in order to progress and they did so superbly. In the first game, they demolished Jaguar Over-40 from South Essequibo by nine wickets.

Winning the toss and batting first, the ageing Tigers posted a challenging 163-8, from their allotted 20 overs with Shazad Alli striking 46 (3×4, 2×6) and Tulsie Ram supporting with 41 (5×4, 1×6). Accurate medium fast bowling from Carlos Yhap enables him to claim impressive figures of 5-14 from 4 overs.

In reply, the home team were in complete control and a 125-run partnership between Parmanand Persaud 73 (6×6, 6×4) and Boomesh Ramdahin who made 76 not out, laced with 7×4 and 4×6, saw Cotton Field S.C reach 164-1 in 14.3 overs, for a dominating performance in front of their home fans.

The second game was reduced to a 15-overs affair due to time at the same venue. Cotton Field SC won the toss and batted against Crown XI also from South Essequibo.

The consistent Parmanand Persaud was again the principal run-getter with another delightful innings of 48, including 5×4 and 2×6, while he was admirably supported by an unbeaten 46 from Ian Dookie (3×6, 3×4) to bolster the score in the later stages.

Cotton Field SC then reached 142-8 in their allotted 15 overs. Wickets were shared among Tamesh Deonarine who had 3-12 from 3 and Ramcharran Singh and Kowshal Singh with 2 wickets apiece.

In reply, a rapid start from the openers who raced to 70 without loss in just 8 overs flayed the bowling and stunned the home crowd.

The introduction of spin, however, stemmed the flow of runs and resulted in the fall of wickets regularly. Boomesh Ramdahin proved destructive as he made the initial breakthrough on his way to match-winning figures of 4-14 from 3 overs.

Openers Gewan Persaud, 45 (3×6, 4×4) and Ramlochan Nankishore 20 (2×4) were the only batsmen to offer resistance. Their departure saw a dramatic collapse as Crown XI crumbled and eventually reached 119-9 in their 15 overs to lose by 23 runs.

The competition will now head into the semi-finals with Cotton Field SC awaiting the results from the other zones. Among the spectators was former Essequibo senior inter-county opening batsman Dinesh Joseph, who is recovering from an injury and is keen to rekindle his career with his local club.

Joseph is one of only a few Essequibians to have scored a four-day inter-county century and he is arguably Essequibo’s finest batsman of any generation.