Half-centuries from President’s XI wicket-keeper Jason Sinclair and all-rounder Shaquille Williams put their team in pole position for a crushing win against Essequibo in the senior inter-county tourney yesterday.
Resuming his innings on 1 on day two of the second round of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) four day tournament at the Bourda ground, Williams added 51 to his overnight score ending with eight boundaries in his brisk knock off 73 balls. Sinclair steadied the ship with an unbeaten 60 from 125 deliveries with three fours and two sixes.
Skipper Vishal Singh who maintained his rich form missed out on his second century after ending day one on 52. The left-hander was dismissed for a patient 85 and was involved in a sixth wicket 81-run partnership with Williams, guiding his team to a formidable 297 all-out in 54 overs.
Essequibo Skipper Anthony Adams was the pick of the bowlers ending with 4 for 90 from 46 overs including 18 maidens. He was supported by Kemo Paul (1-12), Dillon Heyliger (2-59), and Keanu Harry (3-49).
At stumps the Essequibians facing a massive deficit of 193 were 126 for 6 from 35.3 overs, trailing by 63 runs. Opener Rayan Fredricks slammed an aggressive 38 off 40, decorated with six eye-catching boundaries and a maximum. Support came from Parmesh Parsotam (23) and the all-rounder Paul who was unbeaten on 24 at the end of play.
Fast bowler Andre Stoll who was the destroyer-in-chief on the first day with 4 wickets, returned to claim 2 for 12 off six overs, while off-spinner Collis Butts grabbed 2 for 14.
Earlier, after the dismissal of Williams and Singh, the right-handed Sinclair took his team to a comfortable position, registering his half-century. He came off the mark with a monster six off the slow-bowling of Adams and was supported by Stoll (14), who played a stable hand during the latter part of the innings.
Sinclair brought up his 50 with a boundary and required 106 deliveries to reach his milestone. But after the cheap dismissals of Butts (0), Steven Sankar (0) and Seon Daniels (3), the President’s XI innings came to an end.
Essequibo in their second knock lost a cluster of wickets before day two’s stumps. Opener Kevon Boodie (0), Heyliger (6) Etnauth Persaud (12), Adams (18) and Parsotam all fell in the chase. However, Fredricks who has been by far the stand out batsman played without worries and looked like he posed a threat before he was caught by short fielder Seon Hetmyer off the bowling of Butts.
Prior to his dismissal he hammered Daniels for 17 in one over, taking a liking to his pace, hitting two fours and a six in the process. After his dismissal, Paul who has shown his prowess with both bat and ball over the past year immediately raced to 24 of 29 with five commanding boundaries.
A short ball by medium-pacer Robin Bacchus minutes before the close of the day’s play did the trick to remove Parsotam and put the home team in a position to wrap up proceedings on the third day today.
Action continues today at 9.30am.
