The Demerara team pulled off a comfortable chase of 165 runs on Saturday afternoon at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) Ground at Bourda to retain their Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Senior Inter-County Super50 title.
Having played unbeaten throughout this year’s tournament — winning each of their three preliminary games and bolstering their confidence by defeating the Essequibo team just two days prior — Demerara went into the final clash against Essequibo with every expectation of emerging victorious. They won the toss and opted to field first, and restricted Essequibo to 164- all out in 46.5 overs.
Essequibo began their innings with a rocky start, their opening batsmen Kevon Boodie and Keemo Paul each going back to the dressing room after posting a single run. However, Kanhaiya Ramkarran and Kemol Savory built a 41-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to get Essequibo back on track.
Tevin Imlach receiving the GCB Senior Inter-County Super50 Trophy
Savory fell for 21 from 31, while Ramkarran continued to press on, but could not find a long-term partner at the other end. Eventually, he fell for 49, after facing 128 balls. Keanu Harry hit 26 off 46 deliveries near the end, while Quentin Sampson notched 19 from 16 to get the challengers up to 164.
The eventual man-of-the-match, Ronaldo Alimohamed, was the pick of the Demerara bowlers with 4-47 from 10 overs, while Ashmead Nedd claimed 2-25 from 10, and each of the other Demerara bowlers pitched in with a wicket.
Although losing 3 wickets, defending champions Demerara made light work of the chase, and crossed the line in 33.4 overs.
Tevin Imlach led his team home with an unbeaten half-century in the final
Tagenarine Chanderpaul recorded 33 runs from 36 deliveries before a hit on the elbow forced him to retire hurt; and Matthew Nandu and Tevin Imlach teamed up after Sachin Singh’s wicket to take Demerara within 18 runs of their target. Their 90-run partnership saw Matthew Nandu hitting 57 from 80 deliveries before perishing to Malcolm Hubbard’s bowling, while Tevin Imlach remained unbeaten on 56 from 73 deliveries to take his team over the line.
Malcolm Hubbard claimed 2-19 from 4 overs, while Quentin Sampson was the other Essequibo bowler to take a wicket.
Quentin Sampson serving up a delivery
Following the game, Imlach was high in praise of his championship-winning team.
“Obviously well played! It was massive! The bowlers, they were tremendous for us throughout the tournament, and the batting from Tage and Akshaya throughout was amazing as well. We built a complete team, and that was important in winning tournaments. So, credit to them,” he declared.
“Obviously, looking forward to the Super50. It’s important that you get some runs going in; you need some momentum going in. So, I was happy to give the team some runs. I owe them some runs, so, yeah, happy today,” the wicketkeeper-batsman said about his own form in the tournament.
Meanwhile, for his 239 runs accumulated over four games, Tagenarine Chanderpaul was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament and highest run-getter.
Action in the Inter-County Super50 tournament on Saturday
“Just tried to get a start, be a bit positive, and it work out well. Got some scores, so I’m just running with it. Basically, just try and play the situation of the game, and play each ball on its merit, stick to the basics. That’s about it,” ‘Tage’ shared about his form in the tournament.
Looking ahead to the upcoming Cricket West Indies (CWI) CG United Regional Super50 tournament, he said, “Definitely! I’ll try and get a good start, and get some runs in the tournament; and hope all goes well.”
Demerara walked away with the lion’s share of the prizes, as Devon Lord was named highest wicket-taker for his 11 wickets in this 2024 tournament.
The Guyana Harpy Eagles (GHE) team is expected to be encamped this week as they prepare to contest the CG United Regional Super50 tournament scheduled to commence on Tuesday, October 29.
