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- Boodie, Sampson Fifties; spinners help Essequibo win
In sweltering heat under a clear blue sky at the Lusignan ground, Essequibo defeated Berbice by 118 runs as action in the GCB’s Queensway Security Inter-County Super50 continued yesterday.
Spearheaded by a solid 74 from opener Kevin Boodie, 55 from Quinton Sampson, 37 from Keemo Paul and 31 from Thaddius Lovell, Essequibo surpassed Demerara’s 229 in Essequibo, to reach 288-9 when their 50 overs expired on the parched outfield.
Leg-spinner Omesh Mathura captured 3-51, off-spinner Kevin Sinclair took 2-26, and Zeynul Ramsammy had 2-32.
Berbice fell for 170 in 39.5 overs despite 57 from Tomanni Caesar.
Left-arm spinner Golcharran Chulai had 4-48 and got support from Anthony Adams, who had 3-48.
The right-handed Boodie, who represents city club DCC and Kanhayia Ramkarran 13, put together 46 for the first wicket before the veteran left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul trapped Ramkarran LBW in the 11th over.
Kemol Savory (4) departed with the score on 50 when he was bowled by Kevin Sinclair.
Watched by a fair-sized gathering with the Coconut trees swaying in the strong Atlantic breeze, Ricardo Adams joined Boodie and the pair took their team to 83 before Kevin Sinclair had Adams (19) LBW.
From 83-3, Paul and Boodie added 73 before Paul, who hit two fours and two sixes, fell to Ramsammy, who also dismissed Boodie, to leave Essequibo on 180-5.
Sampson, who made a duck against Demerara in the opening game in Guyana’s largest County, deposited Isai Thorne for six as he and Adams ran very well between the wickets.
Sampson, looking to return to the Super50 for the first time since he played a couple of 50-over matches in 2023, hit Ramsammy for six.
The 25-year-old Sampson was dropped twice off Ramsammy before he had reached 50 from 37 balls, but was eventually dismissed by Ramsammy at 233-6 to end his 53-run stand with Adams.
Adams fell for 21 after putting together 38 with Thaddeus Lovell, who smashed a cameo 31 from 15 balls, which was decorated with four fours and two sixes.
After Clinton Pestano removed Lovell, the last three batters fell for 10 runs.
Berbice, without international players Shamar Joseph, Romario Shepherd, Gudakesh Motie and Shimron Hetmyer, began their chase inauspiciously when former Former West Indies pacer Ronsford Beaton bowled Leon Andrews (5) at 7-1.
Caesar, who top-scored with 57 and only Garfield Benjamin (33), Kevin Sinclair (27) and Rampertab Ramnauth (11) reached double figures in a disappointing batting performance.
Caesar looked good and reached the boundary three times and cleared it a similar number of times.
But just after an imperious cut which raced to the point boundary like a bullet off Khan, the off-spinner had the last laugh, bowling the left-handed Caesar with a ball that kept low.
With traffic on the East Coast causing congestion, Kevin Sinclair hammered Paul for back-to-back boundaries and clobbered Golcharran Chulai for consecutive sixes.
Looking for a third six in the over, Sinclair was caught on the boundary as Chulai struck.
When Chulai had Permaul (3) stumped and similarly removed Pestano (1). It was all over bar the shouting.
The next round will be played tomorrow at Lusignan when Essequibo face off with the Select X1, while on Sunday at the number 69 ground in Berbice, the host clash with the defending champions.
Both matches are scheduled to commence at 09:00hrs
Photo name: Chulia
Caption: Man-of-the-Match Golcharran Chulia had 4-47 yesterday at Lusignan to help Essequibo to its first win
