Berbice win title in two-wicket thriller

GCB/Dave West Indian Imports U-15 Inter-County tournament…

Story and Photos By Brandon Corlette

A fairly large crowd watched the Berbice U-15 Team dethrone Demerara by two wickets in a low-scoring thriller played at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground at Bourda.

The victorious Berbice U-15 team

Batting first, after winning the toss under glorious sunshine, Demerara found the going tough, with Berbice picking up the first Demerara wicket at 6-1.
Pacer Shiv Harripersaud removed Ryan Latif for four, then Sachin Balgobin for five, to have the score read 16-2.
Berbice then unleashed their spin duo of Sanjay Algoo and Matthew Pottaya; and with Romeo Deonarine out of the

Demerara XI, the city side were soon displaying some poor batting. Two wickets ‘bit the dust’ with the score on 33, and Demerara were tottering at 33-4 after 11.1 overs.
Leg-spinner Sanjay Algoo, younger brother of former Guyana U-19 player Alex Algoo, produced some mesmerizing bowling that returned figures of 4-9 in 4.5 overs, for which he was later named ‘player of the match’.
Demerara eventually lost their final seven wickets for 50 runs, and were bowled out for a paltry 83 runs scored after facing 35.5 disciplined overs of Berbice bowling. Vice-captain Nityanand Matura top-scored for Demerara with 17 runs from 69 balls, while batsmen Josh Alves (12) and Hemraj Harripersaud (13) were able to reach double figures.
Shiv Harripersaud returned figures of 2-15 in his five overs, while off-spinners Salim Khan (1-14) and Matthew Pottaya (1-17) each took a wicket. Khan took his wicket tally this season to 12, ending as the leading wicket-taker while Pottaya finished with nine wickets in the tournament.
Berbice, replying, overtook the target and ended on 87-8 in 44.2 overs after a crafty innings of 22 by star player Salim Khan.
In the Berbice chase, they lost captain Rampertab Ramnauth for 17, scored from 19 balls after timing three exquisite boundaries. Ramnauth played around a Wayvell Allen delivery and had his stumps shattered.
Having attained 26-1 at lunch, Berbice were requiring 58 runs for victory post the lunch interval, but Demerara came out with determination in the afternoon session and had Berbice reeling at 47-6 after 21.4 overs.
Then the Berbice saviour Salim Khan contributed a game-changing 22, the highest score of the game. His innings spanned 69 minutes and took 62 balls before Berbice came close to the target. He added 35 runs with wicket-keeper/batsman Damion Cecil, but in attempting to finish in style, he found the fielder at mid-on and was dismissed.
A top effort from Demerara ended when Pottaya sealed the match in style with a boundary, and Berbice ended the game on 87-8 in 44.2 overs, completing a tense two-wicket win.
The Select U-15 team to play in the Inter-County U-17 tournament that is slated for Tuesday, February 25, will be announced shortly.