INSPIRED by their spin twins in national Under-15 skipper Shawn Perreira and Gudakesh Motie-Kanhai, Lower Corentyne defeated New Amsterdam/Canje by 57 runs to lift the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB)/Republic Bank Under-17 Inter-zone title at the Albion Community Centre.
Batting first after winning the toss, Lower Corentyne was given a solid start between openers Kandasammy Surujnarine (30) and Sachin Dhaniram (12) who added 39 for the first wicket before the elegant Dhaniram was caught off the bowling of off spinner Kevin Ramdeen.

Ramdeen with Andel De Jonge and Totaram Sooknanan bowled well in tandem to eventually dismiss Lower Corentyne for 157 in 55 of their allotted 60 first innings overs, with middle order batsman Shailendra Shameer topscoring with an aggressive 48 (5×4,1×6).

He received support from Lloydel Lewis 15, Veerapen Permaul 14 and Collis Cort 12 not out while Ramdeen claimed 5-65 off 19 overs, De Jonge 2 for 22 and Sooknanan 2 for 15.

In reply, the visitors lost promising opener Shimron Hetmyer in the first over, caught at the wicket off pacer Jamal Jarvis for 4 and they were quickly placed on 33 for 3 when Perreira bowling his leg spin dismissed Devendra Jainabi and Linden Austin in the same over, following which New Amsterdam/Canje were bowled out for 109 in 52 overs.

Opener Romario De Jonge topscored with 43 (5×4) while Sooknanan and De Jonge supported with 25 and 14 respectively against the bowling of Motie-Kanhai and Perreira who took four wickets each for 19 and 37 runs respectively.

With a first innings lead of 48, Lower Corentyne only needed a draw to claim the title but made a sporting declaration at tea on the second day at 133 for 5, of which Permaul, Surujnarine and Dhaniram made 43, 40 and 20 respectfully while Ramdeen grabbed 3-40 (match haul 8-105) and Sooknanan 2-8.

Needing to score 182 in two hours and 33 overs to register a come from behind victory, New Amsterdam/Canje had their supporters on their feet as they batted positively until they collapsed from a healthy 117 for 5 to be dismissed for 125.

Hetmyer led the batting with 30 and received support Andel de Jonge (22), Linden Austin (21), Ramdeen 20 and Romario De Jonge 15.

Motie-Kanhai spun webs around the batsmen to claim 5 for 23 to finish with 9-42, while Perreira took 3-37 to end with a match haul of 7-74 and Lewis 2-18.

At the Port Mourant Ground, West Berbice and Upper Corentyne clashed in a 50-overs a side match to decide the third place winner.

National Under-15 player Parmanand Narine was in brilliant form striking a superb 150 (20×4) to lead his team Upper Corentyne to a crushing 222 runs victory over West Berbice. Narine and Akeem Bowling (59) added 190 for the third wicket as Upper Corentyne amass a huge 290 for 6 in their allotted overs.

Kurd Griffith was the only West Berbice bowler to escape the punishment as he took a career best bowling figures of 6-36 off nine overs.

In reply West Berbice was dismissed for 68 in 21 overs with K. Kelsey 16 and Ramesh Ridwaan 19 being the only batsmen to reach double figures against the bowling of Bisham Deolall, Trevor Thomas and Shazam Rash who took three wickets each for 10, 15 and 15 respectively.

Lower Corentyne received the winner’s trophy and $50 000.00 while the three other teams in the tournament also received cash prizes, while Motie-Kanhai received a trophy and $5 000.00 after being adjudged the Man of the Match.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Berbice Cricket Board Junior Selection Committee Leslie Solomon at the end of the tournament announced an eighteen (18) man elite squad based on performance in the tournament to start preparation for an Under-17 Inter-county match which has been arranged by the Berbice Cricket Board against Demerara.

The team will be led by Shawn Perreira with Loydel Lewis as his deputy and the rest of the squad reads: Kandasammy Surujnarine, Trevor Thomas, Verapen Permaul, Romario De Jonge, Parmanand Narine, Linden Austin, Devendra Jainabi, Shailendra Shameer, Kevin Ramdeen, Collis Cort, Gudakesh Motie-Kanhai, Jamal Jarvis, Shimron Hetmyer, Bisham Persaudie Deodat, Grisean Grant and Akeem Bowling.