A responsible innings by captain Dexter Solomon (56, 2×4) guided Georgetown under-17 to a crushing 103 runs victory over their East Coast counterparts as action in the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB)/ Gizmos and Gadgets/GT&T sponsored Inter-Association under-17 limited overs competition commenced yesterday.
Playing at the Everest Cricket Club ground, Solomon strode to the wicket with his team precariously placed on 47-4 in the 13th over and when he departed, they were 162-8 before being bowled out for 167, to which East Coast scored a meagre 64 in reply.
Losing the toss and being asked to take first strike, Georgetown was shakily placed on 18-3 in the sixth over. Solomon and Dellon Fernandes then set about operation recovery for their team with some sensible running between the wickets.
Even though the wicket was a good one for batting, the heavy outfield at the Everest ground left much to be desired, as the batsmen’s shots were held up in some 14-inch high grass in the north eastern part of the ground.
This did not deter the Georgetown pair who raised their team’s 50 in the 14th over, whilst the first of three boundaries in the innings was struck in the 28th over, even though some wonderful drives that would have sped away for boundaries on a faster outfield, were held up by the heavy field at Everest.
When Fernandes went after adding 53 runs for the fifth wicket with Solomon, the latter continued to soldier on for his team in partnership with Andre Stoll, adding a further 50 runs for the eight wicket.
He raised his 50 when he steered his 97th delivery from 13-year- old Kamesh Yardram (2-44) through the vacant point region for two but fell soon after as he attempted to increase the run rate for his team in the 44th over.
Stoll saw the demise of Seon Daniels who went without scoring for the fifth successive time, before he too lost his wicket when he attempted to hit Keon Franklyn somewhere over the top and was bowled.
Amir Mohammed with 2-8 along with fast bowler Royston Simon who started the rout for Georgetown when he bowled Quincy Ovid (0) and Dayanand Roopnarine (2) to claim 2-19 and leg spinner Yardram (2-44) did the damage with the ball for East Coast.
When East Coast began their reply, they were coasting along at 44-3 in the 14th over before Solomon decided to introduce his spinners into the attack, after Daniels (3-27) rocked their batting by removing Amir Mohammed (0), Delroy Charles (8) and Franklyn (3) in a fiery six-over spell.
Khan (3-13), who had the privilege of playing for the West Indies under-15 side in the recently concluded Clico Invitational under-15 international tournament and Ricardo Devers (2-7), tormented the East Coast batting with their guile and control.
They bowled in tandem for 15.2 overs giving away 20 runs whilst ensuring that the other six East Coast wickets did not get anywhere near to the 124 runs that were needed for victory.
Twelve-year-old Brian Sattaur who strode to the wicket with his team on 32-3, tried desperately to keep his team in the game with a patient 30 that was mixed with aggression especially against Daniels and sound defence to the spinners.
But when he fell in the 21st over after being adjudged lbw to Khan, it was only a matter of time before the end came and fittingly enough, it was Daniels who started the victory march for his team, be the man to finish it when he ran in from midwicket to dive and take a catch one-handed to account for Royston Simon off Khan to spark off celebrations at 1540hrs.
Georgetown will take on West Demerara at the same venue today, whilst East Coast opposes East Bank Demerara at Lusignan Community Centre ground, with both fixtures commencing from 09:30hrs.
Prior to the start of the game which was delayed by 30 minutes for reasons unknown, president of the DCB and East Coast Cricket Board respectively Bissoondial Singh informed the media that the competition is being sponsored by both Gizmos and Gadgets in association with Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company.
“Cricket is at a crossroad thus we are finding it difficult to get sponsorship. The marketing of cricket is also at a crossroads and when businesses such as Gizmos and Gadgets and GT&T come on board to sponsor a cricket competition, that speaks volumes of those companies.”
Singh further stated, ”We at the DCB cannot do it all by ourselves as we need the help of corporate Guyana to help keep the game of cricket alive in Demerara and I must say thanks to GT&T and Gizmos and Gadgets for this gesture as we look forward to continue partnering with them in the future.”
Chief Executive Officer of Gizmos and Gadgets Ravi Mangar said his company was proud to be associated with the DCB in this tournament.
“We at Gizmos and Gadgets are proud to be associated with this under-17 tournament. This is the first time we are doing such a gesture, and we will continue to contribute to same in the future.”
Teams participating in the final which is set for this Sunday will be outfitted with t-shirts, compliments of the two sponsors.
