Jonathan Foo’s JC Chandisingh are champions! – Anderson, Surujnarine, Chan top performers

Port Mourant Secondary School’s 5th “Fyah Friday” Cricket tournament…

By Brandon Corlette

The fifth edition of the Port Mourant Secondary School-organised “Fyah Friday” tournament has seen the JC Chandisingh Secondary emerging victors. This tournament was played at the Albion Sports Complex ground on Friday last, and six schools across Berbice vied for the championship. The six teams had past and present players from the respective schools.
In the first match of the excited day of “Fyah Friday”, Berbice High School (BHS) defeated Corentyne Comprehensive High School (CCHS) clinching a nail-biting win in a super over. Under glorious sunshine in the first match, CCHS captain Shawn Pereira won the toss and opted to bat first.
In CCHS’ allotted 10 overs, they scored 66-5 after some brilliant BHS bowling. Adrain Sukwah top-scored with a breezy 13, while former Guyana player Jason Sinclair scored a fighting 11. Bowling for BHS, National U-19 player Alex Algoo grabbed 2-5 with some disciplined bowling. Leg-spinner Kevin Jawahir was impressive with ball in hand, gabbing 2-10, including a magical maiden.
BHS required 67 runs from 60 balls. They lost their top players in Alex Algoo, who perished for a duck, and Academy player Kevin Sinclair, who scored 12 before he was undone by Turbo Jagdeo.
BHS then lost Jawahir (04) and Clifton Lindie (09) in quick succession. CCHS were bossing the game, but it was the Tucber Park duo of Malcolm Mickle and Brandon Corlette that scored vital runs together.
Mickle looked for the big shots while Corlette rotated the strike. The game ended in a tie, which was then decided in the super over. Mickle scored an unbeaten 18, while Corlette was run out for an invaluable 15 as BHS ended on 66-6 in 10 overs.
Jagdeo had 2-7, while leg-spinner Pereira had 2-6 for CCHS. The super over saw BHS scoring 13 off Pereira’s over. CCHS were then restricted to 10 off Jawahir’s over as BHS won the super over by two runs.
The excitement continued in match 2 between Port Mourant Secondary School (PMSS) and JC Chandisingh Secondary.
PMSS took first strike and rattled up 108-3 in their 10 overs, with Joshua Ramsammy scoring a scorching 55. Sharaz Ramcharran supported with 28 for PMSS. Bowling for JC Chandisingh, Dimitri Cameron, Jonathan Foo and Arif Chan had one wicket each.
In hot pursuit, JC Chandisingh made light work of the total, winning by 10 wickets. Foo scored a blazing 54, while Surujnarine scored 44, ending on 109-0 in eight overs.
Match 3 saw New Amsterdam Secondary School (Multi Royals) challenging Lower Corentyne Secondary. Multi Royals scored 67-8 in 10 overs. Opener Martin Singh (14) was the lone batter to score double figures, as Lower Corentyne, led by Rajiv Ivan, bowled a disciplined line and length.
In reply, Lower Corentyne ended victorious on 67-3, with Ramesh Kasinauth scoring a fearless unbeaten 24, taking the game away from Multi Royals. Guyana U-19 player Junior Sinclair scored an unbeaten 17 to take his team across the line. Andrew Williams, a former National youth player, was the best Multi Royals bowler with 2-10 in his two overs.
Lower Corentyne drew a bye to the final, while BHS and JC Chandisingh were set to play the semifinal under lights. BHS were knocked out after JC Chandisingh scored 152-4 in their allotted 15 overs. Kandasammy Surujnarine continued his rich vein of form, scoring a brisk 80 for JC Chandisingh.
Kevlon Anderson scored a fluent 31, while Foo scored 20 for JC Chandisingh. Pick of the BHS bowlers was the brilliant off-spinner Kevin Sinclair, who had 1-17 in three overs. BHS fell short by 47 runs, scoring 105-8 when their 15 overs expired. Cameron and Chan were the top JC bowlers with two wickets each.
Then the grand finale between Lower Corentyne and JC Chandisingh was played under lights in front of a packed Albion ground. JC batted first and scored 111-7 in 15 overs, with Kevlon Anderson playing a gem of an innings, scoring 35. Foo chipped in with 21 while Cameron scored 17. Keith Simpson bowled in the right areas, grabbing 2-20 in three overs.
In reply, Lower Corentyne were unlucky with some umpiring decisions that went against them. They were bowled out for 56 in the final. Off-spinner Arif Chan bowled superbly to snare 3-18 as he finished with the leading amount of wickets in the tournament.
The tournament was well organized by the Mark Lyte-led Port Mourant Secondary School, and the sixth edition that is expected in 2020 promises to be bigger and better. Funds raised from this tournament will be going towards the PMSS schools developmental programmes.