A spectacular bowling performance from their team at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) Ground, Bourda on Saturday spurred Demerara to a thumping victory over defending champions Berbice in the final of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Senior Intercounty Super50 tournament.
Watched by a smattering of avid fans, Berbice won the toss and opted to bowl first. They dismissed Demerara for just under 200 runs. However, the Berbice batting fell apart at the seams as eventual Man of the Match, Ronaldo Ali Mohamed, created much discomfiture for the visitors.
Unlike the past two games, Tagenarine Chanderpaul had an early farewell, going for just 5 runs off 7 balls. Mavindra Dindyal went soon after, for 2 from another 7 balls. With Chandrapaul Hemraj making a quick 29 from 23 deliveries before succumbing to Romario Shepherd’s bowling, Tevin Imlach and Akshaya Persaud were left to pick up the pieces.
Their 51-run partnership breathed new life into the Demerara batting, but it was Richie Looknauth’s 52 off 50, including 5 fours and 2 sixes, that really kept Demerara going.
Imlach and Persaud eventually went for 39 and 21 respectively, while Sherfane Rutherford contributed a valuable 21 off 41 deliveries to get Demerara to a defendable 194 all out in 39.5 overs.
Almost immediately, it was apparent that Berbice would make a mess of the chase. The usually dashing Kevin Sinclair hadn’t much to contribute in the final, notching 10 from 11 balls, while Nigel Deodat and the experiment up the order, Clinton Pestano, found themselves back in the dugout for 7 and 6 runs respectively.
All eyes were then on Shimron Hetmyer, who looked good to make a game of the chase with 5 classy hits to the boundary. However, Hetmyer’s display was short-lived as Ronald Ali Mohamed had him caught behind for 25 off 23 balls.
Kevlon Anderson was the anchor for the Berbicians, making a patient 40 off 52 balls, but as Anderson tried to grab hold of the chase, the wickets kept tumbling around him.
