Mc Gill Superstars trump Zeeburg Sports Club in 2-run nail-biter

The Mc Gill Superstars Sports Club of Canal #1, West Bank Demerara overcame the Zeeburg Sports Club of West Coast Demerara by a magnificent two runs in the final over of a thrilling 16-over encounter played at the Zeeburg Cricket Ground last Sunday.
Originally scheduled for 20 overs per side, this match was reduced because of a sudden shower that dampened the pitch and resulted in a late start. Significantly, though, the match represented the restart of sporting activities on the famous Demerara ‘West Side’.
Mc Gill won the toss and, taking first strike on a somewhat damp pitch, wasted no time in getting runs on the board. National all-rounder Travis Persaud danced into off-spinner Yutesh “Avi” Dhanpaul in the second over of the game, from which he produced 17 runs. By the fifth over, McGill had already motored their way to 31 runs, then Persaud (17) was caught at deep mid-wicket off the bowling of off-spinner Malcolm Hubbard.
Prahalad Singh then joined forces with Mc Gill’s skipper Sudesh Persaud, and being naturally the aggressor, smashing Hubbard for four consecutive sixes in the 7th over, before he fell for a quickfire 26 in the 8th over through the wily bowling of Anil Beharry when the Mc Gill score was at 59-2.
National all-rounder Kheshram Seyhodan and his skipper rallied the visitors to 80 in the 11th over, before ‘Skipper’ Persaud departed for (19), removed by the bowling of national youth all-rounder Andre Seepersaud when the Mc Gill score was at 80-3.
Mc Gill then suffered a mini collapse, losing Troy Persaud for 5, Daniel Basdeo for a bird (0), and Kheshram Seyhodan for 20; all caught at deep mid-wicket off the bowling of Andre Seepersaud, to place the visiting McGill in a spot of bother at 91-6 at the end of the 13th over.
Azar Deen, however, offered some resistance at the end of the McGill innings when he smashed a quickfire 15 to propel Mc Gill to 117-7 at the end of their 16 overs.
Host team Zeeburg got off to a great start, despite losing opening batsman Chris Mangal for a bird (0), caught at deep midwicket off the bowling of speedster Diquan Murray to render the score at 7-1 in the 1st over.
National duo Ronaldo Renee and Malcolm Hubbard joined forces and took their team to 42 in the fourth over, before national left-arm seamer Daniel Basdeo removed Hubbard for 29, caught at the wicket.
Basdeo then removed Jermaine Maxwell ‘for a bird’ (0) with the very next ball, having him caught as backward point with the Zeeburg score at 42-3 at the end of the 4th over.
Thereafter, Basdeo removed Usherdeva Balgobin for a bird (0) with the score on 49-4 in the 6th over.
Ronaldo Renee, however, kept on picking up odd boundaries as wickets continued to tumble around him. National left-arm spinner Kheshram Seyhodan removed national all-rounder Andre Seepersaud for 9, bowling him with the score at 63-5 at the end of 9 overs.
With 55 runs required from 42 deliveries, the game was still evenly poised, despite the home team losing most of its top order; but Zeeburg skipper Yutesh “Avi” Dhanpaul joined forces with Renee, and the duo took the score to 86 before national all-rounder Travis Persaud had Dhanpaul caught at long off for 12 runs in the 12th over.
Leg-spinner Ganesh Puran then terminated Renee’s innings for 30 the very next over. When the Zeeburg score was at 89-7, he had him caught at long on.
Persaud returned in the 14th over to “give the bird” to Ariel Tilku (0), when he had him caught at long on with the score at 97-8; and Anil Beharry also “took a bird” (0) when he was run out at 97-9.
Numbers 10 and 11 batsmen, Rohan Dookie and Jamal Gomes, needed to hit 21 runs in 12 deliveries if Zeeburg were to win the game; and Ganesh Puran, bowling the penultimate over of the game, was milked for 18 runs, all flying off the bat of number 11 batsman Jamal Gomes.
With Zeeburg requiring three runs from the final over, and their having one wicket in hand, off-spinner Abdul Razack was given the responsibility to pour cold water on their dreams. And Razack somehow performed a miracle for his team, as he had Rohan Dookie caught at cover for seven, breaking Zeeburg fans’ hearts to see their team lose this nail-biter by a mere 2 runs. Their final score was 115 all out, scored in 15.2 overs.