-Super Kings and President’s XI also advance
THANKS to a magnificent and blistering ton from national opener Sewnarine Chattergoon, Church’s Chicken Corentyne Titans powered their way into the final four of the Guyana Cricket Board organised Carib Beer/Pepsi sponsored T20 tournament with a 148 runs victory over East Bank Pirates at the Skeldon Community Centre ground last Saturday. In yesterday’s action, the President’s XI won a hard fought encounter against North Essequibo, thanks to Jeetendra Sookdeo who struck three fours and one six in an unbeaten 32 that guided his team to a one wicket victory off the final delivery of their innings at the Everest Cricket Club ground.
Winning the toss and opting to take first strike, North Essequibo were bowled out for 94 off their 20 overs with Herrell Greene leading the way with 26 which included three fours struck off Amir Khan, while Vishwanath Lall who also struck Khan for two sixes, supported with 21.
Brothers Norman and Royan Fredericks contributed 13 each to their team’s total, as Khan rebounded to claim 3 for 28 while Leon Scott took 2 for 11 for the President’s XI who inched their way to 38 without loss in reply.
The demise of Renwick Batson 20 (1×6, 1×4) followed by the wicket of Vishal Singh who was run out without scoring, left them shakily placed on 39 for 2, which became 73 for 7, as they lost the wickets of Elton Baker 24 (1×4), Abhilash Dookie (02), Khan (02) and Eon Hooper (00).
Sookdeo was joined by Rawle Browne with the President’s XI needing 22 to win from 12 balls and he struck Royan Fredericks over backward squareleg for six, before he lost both Browne (02) and Dexter Solomon (00) to Royan Fredericks (3-18).
Scott joined Sookdeo with 12 to win off the final over which was bowled by Dillon Heyliger, and watched from the other end, as a well set Sookdeo slashed at the first delivery and got a four to wide third man.
Tension rose in both camps as it came down to the final delivery with the scores being levelled, after Scott tickled Heyliger to fine leg for 4.
After failing to score off the next delivery both batsmen scampered through for a bye as the ball trickled down to wicketkeeper Kevon Boodie, to complete the victory off the final delivery, as the President’s XI ended on 95 for 9.
The other scheduled game between the Steven Jacobs led Gizmos and Gadgets Georgetown Pitbulls and the Noble House Seafoods sponsored Young Conquerors led by Shaquille Williams was abandoned without a ball being bowled and will be replayed today from 10:00hrs at the same venue.
Also recording victories to reach the final four which will be played on Friday at the Albion Community Centre ground were, West Berbice Super Kings who defeated Hotel Tower Cavaliers in the other encounter that was played on Saturday.
On Saturday, the Super Kings won the toss and asked the more illustrious Hotel Tower Cavaliers to take first strike on a flat wicket and thanks to skipper Krisendat Ramoo who took 3 for 12 and Steffon Adams and Eon Abel with two wickets each for 15 and 23 runs, bowled out their opponents for 101.
Balram Samaroo struck a resilient unbeaten 47 that took him 53 balls to accumulate and was decorated with four fours and one six while Khemraj Mahadeo offered support with 14, the two adding 41 for the fourth wicket from 7.4 overs.
This was after former West Indies Under-19 fast bowler Keon Joseph who ended with 1 for 14, rocked the heart of the West Demerara based team when he sent back the pugnacious Andrew Lyght Jnr, following the demise of Wahied Edwards and Gajanand Singh without scoring.
In the Super Kings reply, Keith Fraser who is known more for his custodial duties in the local football fraternity, struck Andre Percival, national fast bowler Paul Wintz and Raj Nannan for one six each which along with his lone four saw him remain unbeaten on 28 as his team reached 104 for 5 from 18.5 overs.
Richard Ramdeen (21, 2×4), Karamdat Bissoondyal 18 (3×4, 16 balls) and Romain Boodram 13 offered support to Fraser against the bowling of Budhan Baksh and Samaroo who had two wickets each for 17 and 20 runs respectively.
Fittingly, it was Fraser who changed the tempo of the game for the Super Kings with his first six off Percival followed by his second off Wintz in an over which cost the Cavaliers, who were once a dominant force in local T20 cricket, 12 valuable runs.
But while the fans who had turned up to witness the day’s action and had seen fireworks from Fraser’s bat, it was the 30 year old Chattergoon, along with Narsingh Deonarine and Jonathan Foo who brought them to life in the second game.
Skipper Royston Crandon won the toss and decided to bat first on a lively wicket and even though he saw the demise of Anthony Bramble who was caught by Krishna Arjune at short extra cover off Seon Hetmyer (1-20) for 9 at 33 for 1, Chattergoon and Deonarine repaired the damage with their century stand.
The pair tore into the East Bank Pirates bowling attack with disdain, dispatching the bowlers to all parts of the ground, the way a taxi service dispatcher would send his cars to pick up passengers on a hectic working day.
Deonarine was the perfect foil to Chattergoon who batted through the innings before he was dismissed off the second delivery of the final over bowled by the unlucky Charles Ramson Jnr (2 for 57) who saw Hetmyer grassed a skier off Chattergoon at deep midwicket in his first over.
From there onwards, the boundaries poured off Chattergoon’s bat like water through a burst pipe, as no bowler was spared from his wrath, as he counted seven fours and one six in his first half century, while adding three more sixes and one four for his second.
When he lost Deonarine at 157 for 2 in the 17th over, they had all but taken the wind out of the Pirates’ sail and with Foo joining him and displaying to the Ancient County public the power hitting that landed Guyana the Caribbean T20 title last year, a further 38 runs from 2.4 overs were added to the Titans’ total.
Ramson removed both Chattergoon and Foo in the space of four balls in the final over, but not before the former had hit him over midwicket for six, with Hetmyer making amends by holding onto Chattergoon at deep midwicket while Ramdass held Foo in the same position.
National Under-19 all rounder Clinton Pestano bowled with pace and aggression to end with 4 for 18 when the pirates began their reply, as he left them shakily placed on 36 for 7 in the 11th over, with Ramdass (14, 2×4), Arjune (02) and Hetmyer (00) back in the comforts of the pavilion.
Diminutive wicketkeeper/batsman Kerwin Austin who topscored with 21 that included three fours and Ramson 06 (1×4) added 18 for the eighth wicket before Ramson picked out Chattergoon at extra cover when he looked to hit Deonarine over that position.
With Zaheer Mohammed unable to bat after he injured his finger while attempting to stop a full blooded drive from Bramble during the Titans’ innings, the East Bank team’s innings was closed at 58 for 9 in the 16th over, when Rajiv Ivan (1 for 14) bowled Austin.