By Clifton Ross

BERBICE skipper Rampertab Ramnauth narrowly missed a ton but his team still crushed the President’s XI team by a whopping 206 runs, as round 1 of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/Dave West Indian Imports U-15 Inter-county 50-Over tourney continues.
Round 1 at the GCC ground, Bourda, bowled off with a decent crowd in attendance to see Berbice rack up a daunting total of 286-4 in their 50 overs, batting first.

The highlight of the innings was the monumental opening stand of 179 between the skipper and match MVP Ramnauth who hit 94 from 98 with 10 fours and a pair of sixes.
His partner at the top of the order, Avishkar Persaud (66) played the anchor role as he managed five fours in the process. Rashad Gafoor (30) and Sanjay Algoo who scored 29 not out, were the other contributors.

President’s XI had a tough time bowling to the Berbicians with just two of their bowlers managing to make breakthroughs with a wicket each.
The chase never seemed to be threatening as Afazul Kadir, the opener, was the top-scorer for his team with a run-a-ball 18.

Vice-Captain Matthew Pottaya was the pick of the bowlers with 2 for 10 from his quota of 10 overs. Support came from Shiv Harripersaud and Kumar Deopersaud, who bagged two wickets apiece to wrap up a one-sided affair.

At Lusignan, Demerara opened their account with a crushing win over Essequibo by 7 wickets. All-rounder Nicholas Sheopersaud grabbed 3-11 while Sachin Balgobin also snared 3 wickets as Essequibo folded for 56, with Shazid Mohamed leading with 12.

Demerara then made light work of their total as they cruised to 57-3 in 15.4 overs. They lost 3 wickets in the process including opener and top-scorer, Ryan Latif, who had 25.
Sheopersaud returned in the end to see his team over the line with an unbeaten 13, copping the Man-of-the-match trophy.