All set for the grand finale

By Marlon Munroe

Defending champions Demerara, buoyed with the addition of West Indies middle order batsman Travis Dowlin, will be aiming to put all on the line in today’s day/night final of the El Dorado Inter-County 50-over against Berbice at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

Demerara, who emerged unbeaten in the preliminary rounds defeating  Essequibo and Berbice, will  be going into the final a well-greased unit according to manager Robert ‘Pacer’ Adonis.

Sewnarine Chettergoon

Narsingh Deonarine

Adonis also noted that Dowlin, who recently returned from competing for the West Indies in the ICC Champions Trophy Tourna-ment in South Africa, will strengthen the batting.

A former national fast bowler, Adonis stated that he was disappointed that the most dependable in the West Indies, batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul was not able to be here for the final.

President of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Chetram Singh yesterday reassured that the dependable left-hander will be home for the West Indies Cricket Board Regional One-Day tournament from October 28.

Meanwhile, Dowlin will be joining forces with skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan.

The two batsmen are the most experienced in the team but they should  get support from a number of `Young Guns’ the likes of Leon Johnson, openers Shemroy Barrington and Rajendra Chandrika and Christopher Barnwell, who also opens the bowling with his medium pace.

Travis Dowlin

Ramnaresh Sarwan

Throw in Steven Jacobs who is  expected to contribute with the bat and ball, v ice-captain and off spinner Zaheer Mohammed  and Demerara already  seems ready to continue their winning ways.

On the other hand,  Berbice, which had already qualified for the final, lost the dress rehearsal at Wales last weekend to Demerara.

While Berbice, who had earlier defeated Essequibo in their preliminary encounter was completely outplayed, the final should be a different kettle of fish.

Berbice also has in its squad a West Indies limited overs player in middle order batsman Royston Crandon who toured South Africa with the Champions League team even though he did not play in the tournament.

The Berbicians will look to Sewnarine Chattergoon, Narsingh Deonarine, who is in a rich vein of form, and the consistent middle order batsman and captain Assad Fudadin.

Fudadin and Deonarine, who have been Guyana’s most consistent batsmen for a while and  are entering tomorrow’s final after scoring half centuries for their respective teams in the Neal and Massy final earlier this week.

And today, if they switch into their destructive mode, Demerera can find their resources being seriously stretched. Furthermore, Chattergoon, who hit an aggressive 85 not out against Essequibo, at the top of the order can set a good foundation for the rest of the innings.

Pacers Esaun Crandon and Brandon Bess will spearhead the bowling with spinners Veerasammy Permaul and Davendra Bishoo looking to restrict the Demerara batsmen.

Bishoo and Permaul in tandem have been a destructive pair and can cause difficulties tomorrow on the stadium pitch, especially later in the evening with the dew that will be on the pitch.

Demerara: Ramnaresh Sarwan (Captain), Zaheer Mohammed (V. captain), Rajendra Chandrika, Shemroy Barrington, Travis Dowlin, Andrew Lyght Jr., Krishna Deosarran, Gajanand Singh, Leon Johnson, Steven Jacobs, Troy Gonsalves, Joseph Perry, Christopher Barnwell, Sauid Drepaul and Kellon Carmichael. Coach: Garvin Nedd and Manager: Robert ‘Pacer’ Adonis.

Standybys: Wasim Haslim, Deon Ferrier, Vishal Singh and Anil Jairam.

Berbice: Assad Fudadin (Captain), Sewnarine Chattergoon, Richard Ramdeen, Rajin Ivan, Karamdat Bissoondial, Jonathan Foo, Narsingh Deonarine, Krishendat Ramoo, Delbert Hicks, Davendra Bishoo, Veerasammy Permaul, Brandon Bess, Esaun Crandon and Steven Latcha. Coach: Adrian Amsterdam and Manager: David Black
Standbys: Devon Clements, Royston Crandon, Ranga Latchana, Michael Newland, Keron Fraser, Arthley Bailey and Andre Percival.