NY Tri State Tour to Guyana: Berbice U-17s beat NY Tri State in tour opener
Story and photos By Brandon Corlette
A Berbice Select U-17 team defeated the New York Tri State team by 34 runs in a 45-over clash at Albion Community Centre Cricket Club. Batting first, the Berbicians posted 155-8 in 45 overs and restricted the New York side to 121 all out in 42 overs.
Ruhan Swar had the highest score of the match, scoring 32 for the New York Tri State team. The opening batsman struck three fours in his 72-ball innings. Captain Utkarsh Srivastava and deputy Adil Shivakumar made 17 each in an ordinary batting display, coupled with poor running between the wickets.
Swar goes big during his top-score
Gracing the venue with his presence was Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) President Hilbert Foster, along with a small number of friends and family of the cricketers. The Berbice bowlers shared the wickets among themselves, with Rashad Gafoor claiming 2-10, Kumar Deopersaud 2-11, and Afrasz Budhoo 2-28.
Despite early-morning showers across the Ancient County, the New York Tri State team got their tour to Guyana underway. After winning the toss, New York Tri State asked the Berbice U-17 Select team to bat first and in the first over of the day, right-arm fast bowler Anirudh Bolisetty struck gold, removing opener Rashad Gafoor (4) with the score on 5-1.
Afrasz Budhoo struck two fours in his 12, but was removed by the impressive left-arm spinner Ansh Rai at 23-2. A slight drizzle paused the game with the score on 42-3 in the ninth over. Upon resumption, West Indies Under-16 batsman Rampertab Ramnauth continued to play his shots, but he was undone by a spectacular catch from Ansh Rai at deep mid-off for 19, which included three fours.
The scoring rate for the Berbice Under-17 team slowed up as Romesh Bharrat dropped anchor. Sanjay Algoo was bowled all ends up for three while Salim Khan came and made 12. Bharrat, who made 23 from 87 balls, departed with the score on 108-6 in 33.4 overs. He was removed by Mihir Patwardhan.
Ansh Rai extracted turn and bounce at Albion
Matthew Pottya (0) and Colis Harcourt (4) fell cheaply, but Albion’s Damien Cecil stood firm and added 38 vital runs with Raj Tikka for the ninth wicket. Cecil was the eventual top-scorer with 26 from 50 balls with one four, while Tikka made 23 from 28 balls. Fast bowler Bolisetty ended with 2-31 in a collective bowling effort, to restrict the Berbicians to 155-8 in 45 overs. The New York Tri State team will play the Berbice U-15 team today at Chesney.
