Berbice scrape home by three wickets in close encounter
… Adams hits 95 for Essequibo
LAST year’s runners-up Berbice defeated their hosts Essequibo by three wickets in a closely fought encounter, when the two  teams met at the Anna Regina Community Centre ground in the third round of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)-organised Castrol-sponsored Under-15 Inter-county tournament yesterday.
Winning the toss and opting to take first strike in hazy conditions and on a pitch that was conducive for batting, Essequibo, who made three changes to the team which lost both of their first two matches to defending champions Demerara, scored 179-7 from their 50 overs, with skipper Ricardo Adams leading the way with 95.
In reply, Berbice, thanks to worthy contributions from Romario De Jonge (37), Quacy McPherson (34) and skipper Shawn Pereira who made a responsible 32, reached 180-7 from 48.5 overs in a match which had members of both teams on the edge of their seats in the latter part of the Ancient County team’s innings.
Scores in the game, Essequibo 179-7, Berbice 180-7.
When Essequibo batted, their normal top order batting collapse occurred again, as they slumped to 53-5 at the halfway stage of their innings, before Adams and his deputy Herry Greene (10) added 43 for the sixth wicket from 15.5 overs.
It was a pugnacious Adams who, having failed in both games with the bat against Demerara, displayed his ability to hit the ball hard, especially after passing his half-century, the second of the tournament, when he struck national Under-15 leg-spinner Gudakesh Motie Kanhai for three sixes in an over which cost Berbice 22 runs.
After Greene was dismissed, Adams found a useful ally in Dexter Williams (27*) one of the three replacements in the lineup and together they added 64 for the seventh wicket, before Adams was run-out by Sharaz Ramsarran when he went back for a second run in the penultimate over.
His 95 was decorated with five sixes and three fours, but more importantly, it took Essequibo who struggled against Demerara to a fighting total of 179-7 from their 50 overs, leaving Williams who struck three fours, unbeaten at the end even though Pereira took 2-31 from 10 overs of leg-spin for Berbice.
In reply, Berbice got off to a disastrous start, when Shimron Hetmyer (0)was run-out off the third ball of the innings, but McPherson who responded with boundaries off Hassan Mohammed (1-19) and Moin Khan (1-36), added 69 for the second wicket from 10.3 overs, before he was caught by wicketkeeper Travis Johnson whose glovework was tardy, having replaced Dexter George behind the stumps, off Khan.
Shalendra Shameer (16) joined McPherson after Romario De Jonge who struck two fours in his 37 was lbw to Williams and he struck Williams for back-to-back boundaries behind point but did not hang around long enough to give the Cinderella County team any problems, as Raj Parbattie (2-19) had him adjudged lbw at 125-4.
Even though Nazrudeen Bux (6) was dropped by Mikhail Garraway off Greene at long on, Mohammed held a well-judged catch at mid off, when he attempted to hit Parbattie over that area, but Parmanand Narine joined Pereira and they took the score to 173-5 before Pereira was bowled by his opposite number.
Ramsarran who struck the winning boundary in his unbeaten 5 and Motie (1*) ensured Narine’s wicket was the last hurrah for Essequibo, who received a round of applause for their sterling performance, despite the loss.
The two will meet in a fourth round clash at the same venue today, before Berbice face their nemesis and defending champions Demerara in back-to-back clashes on Monday and Tuesday at venues to be named.