— Aaron Beharry barred from playing in final match
By Brandon Corlette
Berbice recorded a six-wicket win against Essequibo in the second and penultimate round of the Guyana Cricket Board’s (GCB’s) Hand-in-Hand under-19 inter-county tournament at La Bonne Intention (LBI).
Sheldon Charles top-scored for Essequibo with 30
The fixture, reduced to 36 overs to facilitate the Essequibo team’s travel schedule, saw Essequibo winning the toss and electing to bat as the match commenced at 9:21h. A collective bowling effort, led by player-of-the-match Gourav Ramesh, restricted Essequibo to 96 all out in 34 overs, with Sheldon Charles hitting a top-score of 30.
Essequibo lost captain Ameer Singh to paceman Leon Swamy for a 10-ball duck when the score was at 15-1; and Mahesh Ramnarine (01) and Carl Gilgeous (00) fell cheaply to reduce Essequibo to 28-3 in 7.5 overs.
Charles was joined by Wazim Mohamed (10), and the duo added 16 runs before Mohamed was brilliantly caught by Prashad off the bowling of Ramesh. After Charles was run out for 30 from 66 balls, which included one four and one six, Lance Roberts -batting at number 9 – freed up his arms in his 12-ball 19 to decorate his score with two fours and one six. Roberts added 25 runs with Aryan Persaud, who remained unbeaten on 15.
Gourav Ramesh and his team mates celebrating one of his three wickets (Brandon Corlette photos)
Ramesh ended with 3-19 in six overs, while Leon Swamy claimed 2-21 in seven overs. Jonathan Rampersaud and Nigel Deodat each had 1-14 in their respective spells of eight and six overs. The Essequibo innings also saw three run- outs.
In reply Berbice lost Shamar Angel for a golden duck off lively pacer Niko Vincent. The Berbicians reached the lunch interval at 13-1, with Rampertab Ramnauth and Marvan Prashad being unbeaten at the crease.
Prashad and Ramnauth added 43 runs together before gifting their wickets to the opposition. Left-handed West Indies youth player Ramnauth was trapped in front by Lance Roberts, having made 21 after occupying the crease for 70 minutes, during which he had faced 47 balls and had struck 3 fours. Blairmont’s top youth batsman Prashad played some delightful strokes in compiling his 24 from 54 balls.
Aaron Beharry and Seon Glasgow then added the finishing touches, after Nigel Deodat was removed for six. Beharry looked proactive in his unbeaten 19, while Glasgow, who ended the match with a thumping six over mid-wicket, remained unbeaten on a run-a-ball 21. Jason Holder, Vincent, Roberts and Persaud each claimed a wicket.
Marvan Prashad looked promising before he gifted his wicket away
Berbice easily achieved their target in 30 overs, ending victorious on 98-4.
Beharry, who proved instrumental in the Berbice chase, has been barred from playing the final match against Demerara. According to reliable sources, Beharry played in the Demerara Cricket Board’s inter-associations, and played the trial matches in Berbice. It would be interesting to see how this decision pans out in the future.
Aaron Beharry
The final round of the shortened tournament will be played on Sunday, February 14, at the LBI facility, featuring powerhouses Demerara and Berbice. With both teams recording wins against Essequibo, that match would be a final, with the winners taking all.
