With the West Demerara Cricket Association (WDCA) Beacons 50-Over competition set to restart in October, after a break owed to intermittent showers, the Zeeburg Cricket Club got off on a winning note in a 20-over affair against MMZ Future Youths at the Meten-Meer-Zorg Ground.
Ronaldo Renee, Malcolm Hubbard and Mark Jeffers were the top performers of the day
MMZ won the toss and put Zeeburg in to bat first on a slightly damp wicket. Having previously dominated many of the competitions held on the West Coast of Demerara, Zeeburg posted a mammoth total of 185 for 9 in their allotted 20 overs.
Despite losing a few wickets up front the Zeeburg side continued to rally, as they refused to go down without a fight. Ronaldo Renee led the way as he smashed the ball to every part of the ground, dealing in boundaries and maximums. After Renee fell, Andre Seepersaud came to the rescue with a quick-fire 34. They then further upped the ante on their opponents who were left flabbergasted as Zeeburg made a resurgence with Malcom Hubbard (24) and Yutesh Dhanpaul (18) adding to the total. Spearheading the bowling for MMZ was Dexter George (3 for 34) as all other bowlers took a beating.
Needing 186 runs to win from 160 balls, MMZ were revelling in their fortunate circumstances, considering that they had time to play themselves in and chase the total. Their openers came to the crease and got things off to a moderate start during the ‘powerplay’ overs, but failed to carry on, Mark Jeffers and Hubbard came into the attack and tormented the MMZ batsmen.
MMZ could not hold together any partnership, as the bowling of Jeffers and Hubbard dented their hopes of attaining a victory.
Ultimately, MMZ were bowled out for 64 in 18.3 overs. Top-scoring for MMZ were Tevin Imlac (18) and George (16). No other batsman could contribute any worthwhile score, as Jeffers snared 4-12 and Hubbard picked up 4-19.
