Sinclair’s classy fifty leads B’ce to victory in opening round

Hand-in-Hand one-Day U-19 tournament…

By Brandon Corlette

Inter-County cricket has certainly had a fitting return to Berbice, with the hosts registering a comfortable six-wicket win against Essequibo at the historic Albion Sports Complex on the Corentyne Coast.

Already being witnessed by one of the largest crowds to attend this year’s tournaments, as Berbicians continue to show their unconditional love for the game, West Indies Test players Devandra Bishoo and Shimron Hetmyer added to the glamour of the occasion by gracing the venue with their presence.
The match commenced at 9:50h due to early morning showers in the ancient county; and, having won the toss, Essequibo elected to bat first. The visitors were bowled out for 123 in 42.4 overs of pedestrian batting.
Essequibo got their innings off to an authoritative start with skipper Kevin Christian smashing his counterpart, Kevlon Anderson, along the ground for a boundary in the first ball of the match. From that point on the fans were in for a treat.
With the score on 14, Christian departed for six when he edged one to wicket-keeper Carl Gilgeous, having been brilliantly lined up by Anderson.
Wickets came quickly for Berbice. Gevon Schultz, bowling his first ball of the tournament, castled Demerara lad Jerimiah Scott, who batted at number three for Essequibo; and off-spinner Seon Glasgow picked up the third wicket for Berbice, thereby reducing Essequibo to 30-3 inside seven overs.
After surviving the seamers, the Essequibo resolve crumbled, and they lost their final seven wickets for 41 runs; the solid left-handed opener Orlando Jailall top-scoring with a hardworking 37 from 73 balls, which included two boundaries.
The spinners bowled brilliantly for Berbice, producing dot balls and building the pressure on Essequibo as they shared seven wickets among themselves. Off-spinner Sinclair ended with 2-22 in nine disciplined overs, while the impressive Nigel Deodat had 2-16 in seven classy overs of left-arm spin. And Kelvin Umrao, Doorsammy Mahadeo, Glasgow, Schultz and Anderson each had one wicket in an all-round bowling performance.
In reply, Berbice cruised to victory, ending on 124-4 in 24.5 overs, thanks to Junior Sinclair’s brilliant half-century.
Berbice lost Alex Algoo and Seon Glasgow in a tricky session before lunch, when the score was at 32-2 after five overs. Algoo, the leading run-scorer in the three-day format, followed a wide ball and was adjudged caught behind for seven off the bowling of Romario Stephen. And Glasgow was bowled all ends up when his furniture was destroyed by an Elian Whyte delivery.
The after-lunch period produced the ‘Anderson and Sinclair show’ — class acts which left the hundreds of spectators at Albion in awe at the display of raw text-book shots. Sinclair was at his destructive best as he smashed the ball around, while Anderson was in his groove as he executed shots with grace and elegance. The duo added 72 fluent runs before Anderson departed for 28 when he was out caught.
Watched by an adoring Berbice crowd that included his brothers, the swashbuckling Sinclair flat-batted one over the sight screen for a six, and powered one over mid-wicket for another, as he smashed two sixes and four boundaries in his 58 runs scored from 74 balls before he was eventually out caught. He was subsequently adjudged ‘player of the match’.
Courtland boy Garfield Benjamin was at his spicy best in seeing his team to victory with an unbeaten 17 scored from 23 balls. In his explosive innings, he smashed two boundaries – one that travelled like an express train into the mid-wicket fence, and another over mid-on.
Debutant Carl Gilgeous remained unbeaten on one, while Essequibians Elian Whyte, Romario Stephen, Amit Persaud and Mahesh Ramnarine each took one wicket for Essequibo.
Berbice will continue their quest of defending their title when the One-Day tournament continues on Wednesday, as they take on Demerara at Everest Cricket Club ground from 9:30h.