Brilliant Ganpat leads RHT Poonai Pharmacy into semi-finals

Defending Berbice Under-13 champions, Rose Hall Town (RHT) Poonai Pharmacy easily defeated Upper Corentyne by eight wickets to ease into the semi-final of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB)-organised Singh Brothers Under-13 tournament. The team which has to date won three of the five tournaments by the BCB won the match with 16 overs to spare in the 30-over match.
Playing at the Area H ground, the visitors elected to take first strike after winning the toss. They lost Soloman Hercules for naught when he was bowled by medium pacer Disham La Cruz in the first over. Upper Corentyne never recovered, as the Rose Hall Town bowlers never eased up the pressure. Poonai Pharmacy skipper Jayden Ganpat spun a web around the Upper Corentyne batsmen. The talented left-arm spinner took four wickets for ten runs from six impressive overs as the visitors were bowled out for a meagre 73 in 20.2 overs. The only batters to offer resistance to the rampant Rose Hall Town bowlers were Chandhani Rahiman with 12 and Aden Moore with 10. Another left-arm spinner, Khemraj Bharrat, supported Bharrat with three wickets for twenty runs, while Devash Narine, Lacruz and Akieam Fraser took a wicket apiece.
Needing to score 74 runs from 30 overs to reach their sixth successive semi-final, the home team eased to 76 for 2 from fourteen overs. The batsmen dismissed were Disham LaCruz (8) and Akieam Fraser (9). Royston Crandon, the namesake son of the former West Indies ODI player, was unbeaten on 31.
Meanwhile, Ganpat completed a fine all-round match with 15 not out when victory was achieved. Soloman Hercules and Aden Moore ended with one wicket apiece for 18 and 14 runs, respectively.
Rose Hall Town Poonai Pharmacy had emerged from Zone C after registering easy victories over Albion A, Albion B and Port Mourant. The defending champions would now await the winner of the quarter-finals match between Tucber Park and Cotton Tree.