NATIONAL- U19 cricketer, Daniel Mootoo and his 15-year-old schoolmate, Inderjit Nanan, spun their way to a combined 15 wickets to dismantle the Diplomats Sports Club twice in one day, which sealed an innings and 159-run victory for the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) at home, yesterday, in the GCA- organised Noble House Seafoods second-division two-day cricket competition.

After Raymond Perez (192) and Sachin Singh (115) had blasted centuries for DCC in their first innings on Saturday, which left the side at a commanding 389-4 declared; Diplomats showed some fight at 61-1 from 18 overs by the close of play. On Sunday, that fight disappeared as left arm spinner Mootoo extracted movement and bounce from the pitch, which bewildered the visiting batsmen.

It was not until his eighth over (third for the day) that the 16-year-old was able to get his first dismissal—then they came quickly.

In four overs, he had sent back five batsmen by decimating the Diplomats’ middle order. In total, the Chase Academy student finished with a career-high 8-34 from 17.2 overs, which left Diplomats on 127 all out in 43.2 overs.
Diplomats’ skipper, Rickford Mohamed and top order batsman, Martima King, scored over half of their team’s runs. Mohamed led the attack with 55 (4X4s, 6X4s), while King supported with 23 (3X4s).

With a lead of 262, DCC decided to make their opponents follow on, which saw them batting again yesterday morning. Although Mootoo opened the bowling, he could not replicate his previous results; instead, it was his Chase Academy schoolmate, Nanan, who did the damage.

Nanan took wickets throughout his innings, including two in his 12th over to end the game.
In total, he finished with 6-18 from 11.2 overs, and his first five-wicket haul at club level.
King again looked good in the middle. His 37 (4X4s and 2X6s) had, however, just delayed the inevitable as the side succumbed for 103 all out in 40.4 overs.

Mootoo, who grabbed a wicket in the second innings, finished with match figures of 9-54 from 29.2 overs.