AN aggressive half-century from national cricketer Akshaya Persaud failed to carry the Cornelia Ida Cricket Club to victory in the West Demerara Cricket Association T20 final on Saturday against the home team at the Zeeburg ground.

The game, which was played in front of a large and vocal crowd, turned out to be a thrilling two-run win.

Zeeburg won the toss and batted. Former Guyana U-19 cricketer Malcolm Hubbard led the charge with a half-century, but several other batsmen also had starts, which propelled the home team to 203-9 in their allotted overs.

Hubbard, who batted at number three, struck five fours and four sixes in a top score of 66. He and Balbinder Shivpersaud (22 with 3x6s and 1×4) added 48 for the second wicket after Ronaldo Renee fell early to Richie Looknauth.

Andre Seepersaud (21 with 3x4s) and Ushardeva Balgobin (29 with 3x6s, 1×4) also played a few shots to ensure a constant run flow.
For the fourth wicket, Hubbard and Seepersaud added an innings high 59 runs.
Leading the attack for CI was Academy cricketer, Looknauth, who finished with 4-55 with his off-spin. Left-arm spinners Muhammed Wazidali and Persaud supported with 2-22 and 1-51, respectively.

CI in reply, were restricted to 201-7 in their 20 overs.
Opener Persaud was clinical and looked set to take his team home. He struck four fours and an impressive 10 sixes. He started his innings by lacing the boundary, but his last nine big shots were sixes. On 98 though, he edged a ball from pacer Jamal Gomes behind and was gobbled up by a stunning left-handed diving catch by former national U-19 cricketer Renee.

When Persaud exited with the score on 164-5, the run flow eased, but a late flourish by Harrinarine Bissondyal (25 3x6s and 1×4) brought the visitors back. In the end, seasoned campaigner, medium-fast bowler, Mark Jeffers, defended six runs in the last over to hand his team their 47th title.

Looknauth scored 25 runs for the visitors.
Gomes finished with 3-26, while Dhanpaul grabbed a pair for the winners.