Rain and low scores resulted in an anti-climactic finish at the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Tower Hotel female Inter County 50-over tournament at the Enmore Community Centre ground yesterday.
Reigning champions Demerara retained their title against their old nemesis Berbice after rain interrupted proceedings for almost two sessions. After the match got started at 14:00 hours (it was reduced to 20 overs), the Berbicians never got settled on a pitch that had some moisture, and the Demerara bowlers exploited these conditions.
National Captain and player-of-the-match Waheeda Samdally was the chief destroyer with the best haul of 3-4 from her four overs of medium pace. Her miserly returns ensured the Berbice team lost wickets at crucial and regular intervals before they crumbled to a paltry 60 all out from 19.4 overs.
Meliena Henry was the only batter to put up any resistance with a fighting 18, but she found it difficult to find a partner. In reply Demerara easily reached their target but not without some tense moments when a fired up Erva Giddingg picked up three quick wickets.
At one time Demerara were precariously placed at 46-7 before Samdally (5 not out) took her team home to 61-7 from 16 overs.
At the presentation ceremony president of the GCB Chetram Singh congratulated both teams on reaching the final. He urged them to continue to play the game and develop their skills, especially since some businesses were willing to contribute to the game.
Secretary of the Board Anand Senassie told the girls that while it is not easy for a business to sponsor a competition, in his opinion the game was well played and he was proud to be associated with female cricket. Hotel Tower pumped $500,000 into the competition.
In a brief statement Front Office Manager attached to the hotel Renny Khemraj said that the company would continue to support cricket and more especially the female Inter County competition.
The winning team was presented with $100,000 and a trophy while the runner up got $50,000.
