– Fudadin (151), Hopper (6-41) lead Upper Corentyne past Georgetown
On Sunday, the curtains came down on the inaugural Jaguars Franchise League 3-day, with Lower Corentyne reigning as champions of the League.
The champions closed their final match of the League with a mammoth win over West Berbice by an innings and 302 runs at Port Mourant.
The reigning local franchise 50-Overs champions dismissed West Berbice for 173 in their second innings after they were made to wait a few hours more than they anticipated after overnight rain forced a delayed start to the third and final day.
Devon Clements who bagged 5/47 and Veerasammy Permaul who took 4/29 were the chief destroyers. Leon Andrews did his best to keep the bowlers at bay but fell short of a well-deserved century when he was the last batman dismissed for 91. Brentnol Woolford contributed 32.
The win gave the champions its sixth triumph of the tournament out of a total of seven matches. They were by distance the best team of the tournament incomparable to no other as they executed in a dominant manner. They draw one game against runners up West Demerara.
Meanwhile Georgetown suffered another defeat, this time to Rajiv Ivan lead Upper Corentyne at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground) Bourda. They lost by 156 runs after being set a target of 294.
Eon Hooper, the tournament’s leading bowler claimed six wickets in Georgetown downfall. He finished with 10 wickets in the match.
Earlier in the day after resuming on 248-6 the visitors were routed for 285 in the first hour of the day. Kellon Carmichael led the way for the Georgetown bowlers after he removed Assad Fudadin (151), who added just 18 runs to his overnight score. Carmichael ended with 3-57 while Christopher Barnwell, Gajanan Suknanan and Devon Lord had two wickets each.
By lunch Georgetown were 68-5 in their second innings and by Tea were bowled out for 138. Hooper claimed 6-41 to push his tournament tally to 44 victims, which earn him the best bowler. Keon Sinclair was again among the wickets following up his five wickets in the first innings with 3/40. Raymond Perez made 38, Shawn DeSouza 30 and Andrew Lyght Jr 23 were the principal scorers.
At the Enterprise ground Tevin Imlach and Ryan Shun made light work of the target of 178 as they ensured no wicket fell on the final day on their way to a well-deserved victory. Imlach was unbeaten on 93 while Shun was unbeaten on 42 when the winning run was struck.
At Tucshen, the home team cemented their place at second in the points standing when the registered an outright victory over Essequibo. Resuming on their overnight 120/2 they were dismissed for 269 with Tagenarine Chanderpaul again top scoring with 70 which put him on top the runs with 635 runs. Kemol Savory made an even 50, his first of the competition while Travis Persaud made 31, Romario Shephard scored 29, Raymon Reifer chipped in with 21. Safraz Esau also made 25. Bowling for Essequibo, Anthony Adams took his second five wicket haul of the match as he finished with 5/68 while Kemo Paul had 3/67.
Essequibo in reply, could only score 192 chasing a mammoth 475 for victory. Kevon Boodie top scored with 55 while Anthony Adams returned with the bat to make 32 not out. Rishi Looknauth bagged 5/33 and Keshram Seyhodan took 2/2 bowling for West Demerara.
At the presentation ceremony, which was kept at Port Mourant, Secretary of GCB, Anand Sanasie, congratulated Lower Corentyne for winning the tournament and further stated that the competition was a success as there were numerous individual and team performances.
President of the GCB, Drubahadur, reiterated what the Secretary said about the success of the tournament and also congratulated all the teams who participated in the competition.
Competitions Committee Chairman, Colin Europe, said he was pleased with the individual performances of the players and encouraged them to continue to work hard on their game.
The presentation ceremony concluded with trophy and prizes for individual performances; bowler with most wickets, Eon Hooper who took 44 wickets with a best bowling figure of 6/41, batsman with the most runs, Tagenarine Chanderpaul who finished with 635 runs with a top score of 187, best wicketkeeper Kemol Savory who had some spectacular catches off pacers Romario Shephard while the best all-rounder went to Raymon Reifer for his 434 runs and 38 wickets. Those players received a trophy and a cheque for $10,000 each while the second place team, West Demerara, received a trophy and a cheque for $300,000.00. Champions Lower Corentyne were presented with a trophy and a cheque for $500,000.00.
The unprecedented professional 3-Day League format saw introduction of 100 overs per day in an effort to realistically prepare the players for national and regional duties. It certainly continues to develop much hype among players and the cricketing public. It is believed that with the positive and proactive approach to cricket development being untalented by GCB/CGI, that this professional structure will in the not too distant future realize its franchise conceptualization, with sponsors becoming franchise owner for the teams.
