By Royston Alkins
Berbice U17s yesterday defeated their Essequibo counterparts by 115 runs at the Everest Cricket Club ground when the Guyana Cricket Board, Igloo Ice-Cream U17 Inter County tournament commenced.
Berbice’s commanding victory came on the back of a fine batting performance from opener Alex Algu who stroked a belligerent half-century.
He received support from 15-year-old all-rounder Gevon Shultz who made 32 and captured four wickets for 21 runs to crown an impressive all-round showing.
Berbice had earlier won the toss and elected to bat on a fast outfield. They quickly lost Brandon Mangal (00) to leave the score on eight for one. Junior Sinclair joined Algu and was given a reprieve before he came off the mark.
The two took the score to 48 before Sinclair was dismissed for 10 to hand Badesh Parasotam his first wicket.
Berbice then slipped to 65 for 4 at which point Algu and Schultz came together in a critical 47-run partnership.
Algu’s half century came in the 21st over with a nudge into the leg side for a single.
He was subsequently dropped on 50 in the next over on the long on boundary, the ball going for a six.
He then launched the next delivery for another six then added a four and another six as he took 22 runs off the 22nd over to push the score to 93 for 4.
Berbice brought up their 100 when Shultz stroked Devendra Mohan through the covers for four to carry the score to 102 for 4 after 24 overs.
Algu, who started to play a few shots after reaching his half century, was dismissed when he drove a half-volley back to Reyaz Khan to leave the score on 112 for 5 in the 25th over. His 81 came from 78 deliveries and he struck eight fours and three sixes.
Shultz, who was dealing in boundaries pushed on by stroking medium pacer Mohan over extra cover for 6 to carry the total to 119 for 5.
Berbice were eventually dismissed for 215 after the last 4 wickets added 69 runs to push the score past the 200 run mark.
Number eight Kevin Umra (26) and number nine Nigel Deodat (17) in particular, batted well to ensure that the Berbice side had something to bowl at.Bowling for Essequibo, Khan (2-51), Roberts (2-22) and Parasotam (2-33) all had decent figures.
Essequibo in their response quickly slumped to 42 for 6 as Shultz and Kevon Anderson removed Essequibo’s top order with some impressive seam bowling. The 15-year-old Shultz bowled with energy and accuracy to end with figures of 4 for 21 from six overs. He was supported by spinners Kevin Omroa (3-21) and Nigel Deodat (2-28) as Essequibo were dismissed for 100 in 28.5 overs. Only Roberts (28) and Orlando Jailall (17) reached double figures for Essequibo.
Meanwhile, Demerara defeated the GCB select XI by 20 runs over at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground. Demerara won the toss and elected to bat and posted a paltry 168 from their allotted 50 overs with Hemnauth Dindyal and Jeremiah Scott contributing 25 and 22 respectively while extras top-scored with 36. The select XI bowling was led by Essequibo U15 skipper Sheldon Charles who took 3 for 39 while left-arm spinner Hemraj Harrilall captured 2 for 26.
The U15s in reply came close to upsetting their seniors but were bowled out for 148 in 49.3 overs. Charles returned to top score with 21 while Mark Ramanand and Daveanand Khemraj both contributed 16. Four batsmen were dismissed via the run-out route. Man of the match Pradeep Balkishun (2-13) was the pick of the bowlers for Demerara who will face Essequibo at the same venue while the U15s will take on Berbice at Everest tomorrow.
