IN scorching heat with fluffy clouds drifting lazily over the DCC sward yesterday, pre-tournament favourites Georgetown, demolished East Coast by seven wickets to take the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) Inter-Association 50-over U-15 cricket title.

In the other final round game of the round-robin tournament at Meten-Meer-Zorg, Upper Demerara lost to West Demerara by eight wickets.
At DCC, East Coast won the toss and elected to bat on a track with some preparation moisture and fairly fast outfield despite overnight rain.

East Coast lost Gopaul Ramchand who was LBW to Emmanuel Lewis for a duck at 0-1 in the first over and when East Coast’s two best batters, Munish Outar (2) and Demerara U-15 Skipper Mickel Shamra (0) in the space of two runs, they were quickly on the back-foot.

Outar was LBW while Sharma was comprehensively bowled, as Lewis, who scored a double century in this tournament, bowled fast and straight to leave East Coast on 18-3.
A handful of fans on a working day in the middle of the Christmas season, watched as Junior Dindyal, the only batter to double figures, offered token resistance; making 12 from 25 balls with a boundary before the left-hander edged a google from pint-size leg-spinner Reyaz Latif to the Keeper Shamar Apple at 24-4.

Dindyal’s demise triggered a dramatic collapse as their last six wickets tumbled for 27 runs as extras contributed 15 runs to the total of 50 all out in 28.3 overs.
Ramchand, Sharma, Nicholas Simon and Udesh Jaikarran were dismissed without scoring as Man-of-the-Match, Latif captured 3-6 from five overs.

Lewis (3-7) and Trilok Nanan (3-6) also bagged three-wicket hauls for Georgetown who started their run-chase in horrific fashion.
Little left-hander Lomar Seecharran had his off-stump uprooted from a delivery that came back from pacer Navindra Isurdeen at 1-1 off the fourth ball of the innings.

It was soon 2-2 when Apple, who was hit on his back leg and might have gotten edge, was LBW to Sharma who opened the bowling with his off-spin.
The left-handed Ravin Singh, who favored the off-drives executed a glorious extra-cover off Sharma which reached the boundary like a bullet from a gun.

Cush Seegobin who showed good technique, lofted Sharma effortlessly over mid-off four as their wicket partnership took shape to silence the East Coast supports.

Singh, who seemed willing to play across the line to balls on middle and off stump, swept Outar for four before with 10 runs to win, Seegobin pulled a knee-high full toss from spinner Satindra Shiwdarsan to mid-wicket, where Isurdeen who left the field nursing a hit to his ankle halfway into his fourth over, took an easy catch.

Nanan who hit Dindyal for six over mid-wicket to end to one-sided contest in 15.4 overs, was unbeaten on eight while Singh finished undefeated on 20 with three boundaries from 43 balls.
At Meten-Meer-Zorg on the West side, Upper Demerara Select X1 made 119-9 after recovering from 43-5 in a reduced to 45 overs.

Shahid Ramzan, the son of popular newscaster Avinash Ramzan, reached the boundary three times in his carefully constructed 48 from 113 balls
But only Jermaine Grovsnor and Sameer Bhola with 11 each, got into double figures made up of mostly players from the city and East Coast.

Parmeshwar Ram (2-18) and Shaker Ramesh (2-24) were the main wicket takers for West Demerara who cruised to 119-2 in 28.5 overs.
Ram stroked six fours in his 86-ball unbeaten 62 while Joshua Collette hit four boundaries in his 31 not out as West Demerara finished third being Champions Georgetown and East Coast.

Outar, with three MOM performances and Anek Haimnarine, who surprisingly did not play yesterday for Upper Demerara, finished jointly with the most wickets (10) while Lewis ended as the leading runs scorer with 205 from two innings at an average of 205.
Lewis was also the MVP of the tournament while Latif took the MOM award at DCC.