Demerara looking for second win against youthful Essequibo
THE Ramnaresh Sarwan led Demerara lineup will be looking to record their second victory today when they face a youthful Royan Fredericks led Essequibo side in the third and final preliminary round match of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/El Dorado Inter-county limited overs tournament at the Wakenaam Community Centre ground. Both sides had contrasting results in their first match, with Essequibo going under to Berbice by eight wickets at the Blairmont Community Centre ground, while Demerara defeated the Ancient County by 71 runs in their encounter at Georgetown Cricket Club ground.
Certainly, Royan would be hoping to have another big partnership with his elder brother Norwayne at the top of the Cinderella County team’s innings, as they did against the Berbicians when they added 91 for the first wicket from 23.4 overs.
However, Essequibo’s batting faded in the middle overs, with only Balchand Shivamber who struck a whirlwind and unbeaten 34 and Dillon Heyliger 12 managing to reach double figures with the Fredericks sibling.
This time around, coach Elroy Stephaney would be calling on his charges to produce a much better batting performance on a relatively small ground that will be hosting its first match of this kind.
Apart from the Fredericks brothers, Shivamber and Dillon Heyliger, the bating lineup also includes Anthony Adams and home town favorite Ricardo Adams (no relation), Jason Heyliger, Trevor Benn, Robert Moore and Navishaul Pooran who are all capable batsmen in their own rights.
The bowling will be led by Benn with worthy support from Jason and Dillon Heyliger, Pooran, national Under-19 fast bowler Ronsford Beaton and Moore who will be adding variety with his left arm orthodox spin.
How they handle a Demerara batting lineup that includes West Indies opener Travis Dowlin and Rajendra Chandrika (who added 129 for the first wicket against Berbice), skipper Sarwan and the dependable West Indies middle order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul is left to be seen on a track that is expected to favor the batsmen.
Added support in the batting department will come from Steven Jacobs, Christopher Barnwell, Derwin Christian, Leon Johnson and the vastly improving Andre Stoll and Kellon Carmichael.
There is a saying ‘fast bowlers hunt in pairs’ and certainly, when Demerara faced Berbice on a flat GCC wicket, it was the fast bowling pair of Carmichael who got four wickets and the left arm swing of Stoll who were backed by the spin of Jacobs that did the damage to the defending champions powerful batting lineup.
While Stoll kept a tight lid on things at one end, Carmichael was able to wreak havoc at the other and with Essequibo showing little and at times no resistance to the Berbice bowling attack, it maybe an early day in the field for those involved in this matchup today.
Also included in the Demerara bowling lineup are Zaheer Mohammed, Amir Khan and Totaram Bishun, three versatile spinners who can destroy any local batting attack on their day, backed by Jacobs and Barnwell.
However, what one needs to take into consideration is the present situation the competitions committee of the GCB would be faced with, should for some reason unknown, Essequibo spring a surprise and defeat Demerara.
It would leave all three teams on one win each, forcing the GCB to look at net run rate which should weigh in Demerara favor, leading up to the toss of the coin for today’s match.
Teams for the match will be chosen from:
Essequibo: Royan Fredericks, Norwayne Fredericks, Dillon Heyliger, Jason Heyliger, Anthony Adams, Balchand Shivamber, Ricardo Adams, Faizal Karim, Navishaul Pooran, Narendra Mandholall, Robert Moore, Herry Greene, Ronsford Beaton and Trevor Benn.
Demerara: Ramnaresh Sarwan (Captain), Christopher Barnwell, Rajendra Chandrika, Shemroy Barrington, Vishaul Singh, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Leon Johnson, Steven Jacobs, Derwin Christian, Zaheer Mohammed, Travis Dowlin, Amir Khan, Totaram Bishun, Kellon Carmichael and Andre Stoll.
Admission is free ad the action is set to bowl off at 0930h.