Renee, Perez slam tons in tame draw

GCB/Hand-In-Hand U-19 Inter-county 3-day…

-U-17s hold nerve to secure first innings points against Essequibo

By Akeem Greene

It was another impressive showing by openers Ronaldo Renee and Raymond Perez as they helped themselves each to delightful centuries on the final day of their match against Berbice in the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Under-19 three -day inter-county tournament at the Everest Ground on Tuesday.
Renee caressed the ball to all parts of the ground make a memorable 165 not out while Perez battled his way 113.
Not only did the pair bat with maturity way above their age, they also locked heads to put on enormous 293 for the first wicket, which effectively put their team in total control of the match.
The match eventually ended in tame draw, as Berbice reached 93-2 in their second innings when play came to a close. Matthew Hardial and Joel Seitaram were the not out batsmen at the crease on 21 and 22 respectively.
With a deficit of 153, Berbice simply looked to bat out the day and avoid an embarrassing innings defeat but that seemed to be under threat when Adrian Sukwah went for nine followed by Sasenarine Sookhoo for 22 as they went into tea at 42-2.

Hardial and Seitaram quelled any idea Demerara had of an outright victory as the shouldered arms to most deliveries until close of play.
Earlier, the pair of Renee and Perez picked up where they left off from day two, on 89 and 69 respectively. They batted superbly to take the team’s overnight total of 170-0 to 351-2.
In keeping with his ability to find the boundaries at will, Renee reached his hundred with two sweetly timed cover drives and 186 balls. The right-hander spent 268 minutes at the crease compiling this compact innings where he hit thirteen fours.
Renee’s century, also coincided with the team erasing deficit, as they reached 200 runs, and now lead by two.
Unlike the second day, the sun began beaming down on Everest and the Berbice bowlers looked completely lacking of any enthusiasm as the batting pair increased their tempo with some cheeky shots against the spinners.
The elegance of Perez showed when he played a neat cut backward of point to reach to his landmark, hitting six fours but his concentration saw him spend 313 minutes at the crease.
Perez took his score into the 90’s and reached three figures with a simple touch behind point, as he showed his composure by batting for 313 deliveries and hitting six fours in his milestone.
As a breakthrough seemed impossible to achieve, Renee then moved onto another landmark when he reached 150 from 261 deliveries and the team’s lead was now over 100.
Off-spinner Asif Ally, was the man to end the formidable stand, when he enticed Perez to give him the charge and the batsman complied by hitting the ball to mid-wicket, to fall for a well-played 113.
The score was now 293-1 and the usually aggressive Sherfene Rutherford came to the crease and reached 16 in little time; when lunch was called, Demerara were 311-1, Renee was on 159 and the lead now at 113.

After lunch, Rutherford tore into pacer Randy Wade, as one of his overs cost 20 runs, and the left-hander was now nearing a half-century.
The spin of Raymond Vankenie brought the demise Rutherford via the leg before route for 46 from just 26 balls, hitting four fours and three sixes.
His dismissal also saw the declaration be called, as Demerara reached 351-2, and lead by 153 runs; Renee, who was left unbeaten, hit 18 fours, an innings which spanned 470 minutes.
Vankenie (1-36) and Ally (1-56), were the only successful bowlers for Berbice.
Over at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC), the select under-17s secured first points against Essequibo in their exciting draw.
After no play was possible on day two, due to a wet outfield, Essequibo began on 72 without loss in pursuit of the under-17s total of 243 but openers Mark Williams (58) and Nathan Persaud on (14) soon fell as with rest of the innings, as only Sachin Persaud (25) and lower-order rally by Looknauth Chinkoo (44), made other notable contributions.
Left-arm spinner Ashmead Need snared 4-58 and Kevin Sinclair took 2-29 which saw boys from the Cinderella County being bowled out for 168 and the Under-17s securing a lead of 75.
In the Under-17s second turn at the crease, they got their innings going with a 42-run opening partnership between Bhaskar Yadram and Joshua Persaud after which Yadram was caught behid off the bowling of Chinkoo for 26.
Alphius Bookie (04), who came and struck one boundary, was bowled by left-arm spinner Akini Adams as the under-17s were now 55-2.
However, smart batting by Persaud and Sinclair took the score 108, when the right-handed Persaud pushed at one outside off-stump and was out caught behind for an attractive 49 (1×4; 3x6s).
Sinclair went unto make 59 as his side declared on 190-5 which meant Essequibo needed to make 267 for a victory in the final session.
West Indies Under-19 star Keemo Paul hit a whirl wild 94, inclusive of nine sixes and six fours but his side could only reach 123-3 when play came to a close; Nedd picked up 2-25 to end with match figures of 6-83.
The final round will commence on Thursday, with Essequibo playing Demerara at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) and Berbice playing the Select Under-17s at Wales. Action bowls off at 09:30h.