Demerara, led by a polished unbeaten half-century from captain Kwame Crosse and a five-wicket haul including a helmet trick from right-arm, leg-spinner Amir Khan, trounced Essequibo by 120 runs in the first round of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Castrol-sponsored Under-15 Inter County limited overs cricket competition at the National Stadium at Providence,yesterday.
The competition is being used as a yardstick to select the national team to contest the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)/Clico sponsored regional Under-15 limited overs cricket competition set for March 15-24 in Dominica.
Essequibo won the toss and invited their opponents to take first strike in a game reduced to 40 overs due to an unprepared wicket.
Demerara accepted the offer and rattled up 195-5 with Crosse leading the way with his unbeaten 52.
They then bowled out the Cinderella County team for 75 from 29.3 overs with Khan being the pick of the bowlers taking 6-9.
On a wicket that had lots of grass and offering some bounce to the fast bowlers, the Demerara opening pair comprising Alex Ramalho (27) and Sunil Rupee (20) posted 60 runs for the first wicket from 17.3 overs before Ramalho was run out.
Rupee followed soon after caught by wicket-keeper Faizal Karim (20) off Vejai Surujpaul. When Dayanand Roopnarine was bowled by Herry Greene for two at 62-3 in the 20th over, the Essequibians must have felt justified in inserting their opponents.
However, a 70-run, third wicket partnership between Crosse and Jahron Byron help stabilize the innings before Crosse, on 39 from 30 balls which was decorated with four fours, retired hurt at 130-3 in the 30th over complaining of pain in the stomach area. Wicketkeeper/batsman Safraz Esaun and Byron added a mere five runs before Byron was caught by Shawn Garraway at extra cover for 29 from 34 balls.
Khan joined Esaun and they posted a further 39 runs for the fifth wicket before Esaun was dismissed for 20 with his team’s score 174-5 in the 38th over. At his demise, Crosse rejoined the action with two overs to go and hurriedly sped to his fifty and also attempted to get his team to the 200 mark.
They fell short on the latter, but Crosse reached his half century when he cut Rensford Beaton to third man for two. He faced 38 balls and struck six fours.
Khan was undefeated at the other end on 24.
There was a wicket each for Basdeo (1-12), Gowkarran (1-21), Surujpaul (1-28) and Greene (1-37).
When Essequibo began their reply, they quickly lost Karim who was bowled by medium fast bowler Neil Barry Jnr. without scoring in the second over with only seven runs on the tins. Garraway and Basdeo then added 26 runs for the second wicket before Khan was handed the ball and his part of the show began.
First to go in his helmet trick was Garraway, who was adjudged lbw to one that pitched on the leg stump and straightened for 11 that included a huge six off fast bowler Kevin Ogle. Captain Wayne Singh was then caught by wicketkeeper Esaun the final delivery of the 10th over.
When Khan began his third over, he got the wickets of Ricardo Adams and Kevin Fredericks to complete his helmet trick and leave Essequibo tottering on 41-5 in the 12th over. They lost wickets rapidly to be precariously placed on 48-7 after 14 overs.
By the 20th over, the score read 54-9 with Jagdesh Bishun taking the wickets of Mark Tyrell whom he bowled and Basdeo who went via the lbw route for 14.
A last wicket partnership between Gowkarran who was left unbeaten on 14 and Greene (3) that realized 21 runs attempted to restore some lost pride for the Cinderella County team before Crosse handed Khan the ball and the little right handed leg spinner obliged by removing Greene who was caught by Ramalho at gully.
In an invited comment coach Clive Grimmond told Stabroek Sport that he was happy with the outcome although there were a few areas of concern they would be addressing at the practice session that is scheduled for today. “The victory is something I expected.
“We were looking to score in the vicinity of 200 to 250 runs, but having lost those three wickets quickly, we had to rebuild and consolidate. We also failed to put away the bad balls that were presented to us. Crosse played an integral role in the rebuilding process and Khan justified his position as the best young leg spinner around.”
Vibert Johnson, coach of Essequibo also took the opportunity to express his disappointment.
“Having had them (Demerara) precariously placed on 62-3 in the 20th over, there is no way they should have rebounded to score 195. We became complacent and they capitalized on it and began to score heavily as we failed to maintain our stronghold over them. We will be looking to rebound when we take on defending champions Berbice today with a few changes set to be made tentatively to the team.”
