THE YOUNG Warriors Cricket Club (YWCC) amassed the highest total in the opening round of the BCB/Ivan Madray Memorial 100-Ball cricket tournament last Sunday in the Ancient County.

The historic knockout tournament, which involved nine first-division teams, is being held in memory of the late legend Ivan Madray – the third Berbician to play Test cricket after John Trim and Rohan Kanhai.

In the first round of play, YWCC, the Albion Community Centre (ACC), the Rose Hall Town (RHT) Gizmos & Gadgets and Tucber Park Cricket Club (TPCC) recorded victories to join RH Canje CC (who drew the bye) in the second round.

At Port Mourant ground, YWCC recorded 152-5 with National U-19 opener Alex Algoo leading the way with 46, while Berbice U-19 player Trevlon Stanislaus added 26 and Suresh Dhanai an unbeaten 23.

Marvin Prashad (2-30) and Seon Glasgow (1-23) led Blairmont Community Centre’s bowling attack.

All-rounder Kevin Jawahir was the lone batsman to stand up against the YWCC’s bowling, but his 73 could push Blairmont to only 122-6 before their 100 overs ended.

Devendra Ramoutar (3-20) and Stanislaus (2-18) led the bowling attack for the winners.

Earlier at the same venue, TPCC bowled out Port Mourant Cricket Club (PMCC) for 63 from 13.5 overs then raced to the target with 10 overs to spare.

It was Joel Davis and National U-17 all-rounder Leon Swammy who led the winners’ bowling attack.  Davis picked up 4-9, while Swammy took 2-18.  Only Samuel Kistasammy (12) and Joshua Ramsammy (12) reached double figures for PMCC.

In reply, TPCC raced to 64-2 in just six overs with Nial Smith (25) and Clifton Lindie (15) leading the charge.

At the Albion Community Centre ground, the home team defeated the Police Cricket Club by eight wickets. Police reached 91 before they were dismissed off 98 balls.

A few batsmen got starts, including Delbert Hicks (23), G. Barron (23) and Philbert Wilburg (21), but national spinner Gudakesh Motie with 3-12 and West Indies spinner Veerasammy Permaul 2-16 stemmed the flow of runs and picked up crucial wickets.

Albion, in reply, reached 96-2 with Adrian Sukhwa (33 not out) and Anthony Bramble (21 not out) leading the side to a comfortable win. Opener Kandasammy Surujnarine added 29.

In the second game at the Albion ground, the RHT Gizmos & Gadgets CC easily defeated West Berbice by 27 runs.

National Under-19 cricketer Junior Sinclair struck an elegant 66, while his elder brother Jason supported with an unbeaten 30, as RHT Gizmos & Gadgets reached 138 for six. Steffan Adams (2-12) and Sherwin McPherson (2-17) were the successful bowlers for West Berbice.

In reply, West Berbice could muster only 111 before they were bowled out in 15.4 overs. Kevin Sinclair (3-17) and skipper Shawn Pereira (3-26) led the strong bowling attack. R. Mitchell 34 and Keith Fraser 14 were the main contributors in a losing cause.

The tournament is being organised by the BCB with sponsorship provided by the Madray and Chintamani families.

The second round of the tournament will be played on Saturday at the Port Mourant ground with ACC clashing with YWCC at 10:30hrs while RHT Gizmos & Gadgets and Rose Hall Canje Cricket Club will play at 13:30hrs.

The winner of the Albion vs Young Warriors match will advance straight to the final, scheduled for December 16 at the Port Mourant ground. Meanwhile, TPCC will play the winner of the RHT Gizmos & Gadgets vs RH Canje CC match in the lone semifinal on Wednesday, December 12 at the Port Mourant ground – the home ground of the late Ivan Madray.

The Ivan Madray Memorial 100 Balls event is the 26th cricket tournament to be organised by the BCB to date in 2018.