The Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) captured the Carib Beer T20 title, defeating the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) by six runs on the back of the brilliance of crisis man, Raymon Perez at GCC, Bourday, Saturday.
It was a seesaw final which lived up to all the hype and which saw the West Indies Under – 19 duo of Perez and Ronaldo Ali-Mohammed giving the relatively large crowd a glimpse of Guyana’s future.
The day began with DCC winning the toss and electing to take the first strike.
They got off to an ideal start when Trevon Griffith eased off – spinner Gavin Singh through the cover region for four, the first ball of the innings.
Fellow opener, Tevin Imlach then got stuck into Joshua Wade, striking him for two boundaries in the following over before he was needlessly run out for 12 in the third to leave the score on 26-1 just as the partnership had begun to look threatening.
Griffith followed Imlach back to the pavilion soon after, going for a big heave only to be taken at backward point for 16 off the bowling of Singh.
The game then swung GCC’s way when trump card and skipper, Christopher Barnwell (2) pushed a delivery back to left-arm spinner, Anthony Adams to send the hosts into pandemonium and end the action packed first power play with the score on 50 – 3.
West Indies Under – 19 seamer, Ali-Mohammed then got into his strides and quickly removed Sachin Singh (13) and the dangerous Sherfane Rutherford (0) two deliveries apart, which left the score at 59-5.
Adams struck again by removing Joshua Persaud (1) – trapped in front LBW to send the Queenstown Club into capitulation, six down, four runs later.
Perez, however, came to the rescue again, just as he did in the semifinals with an enterprising 40-ball 54.
He ran well between the wickets early in his innings and unleashed later on by striking deliveries from Leon Johnson for a couple of boundaries while also easing a delivery from Robin Bacchus over his head to coast to his fifty.
The young man laced five fours and a maximum and also featured in a crucial 68-run, eight-wicket partnership with Jahron Biron, who ended unbeaten on 34 as the duo pushed the score beyond the three-figure mark.
They then took 38 runs from the last three overs to take DCC to 155 – 7. Ali-Mohammed (3-38) and Adams (2-17) were the principal wicket takers for GCC.
Bacchus began GCC’s response with a couple of lovely boundaries off Dennis Squires (2-34) to send the host on their way.
The elegant left-hander continued to time the ball sweetly to set a solid foundation. However, he lost fellow opener, Jeetendra Sookdeo (17) in the sixth over with the score on 44 – 1.
GCC continued to look threatening and reached the halfway point with the score on 73 – 2 during which time they lost Johnson (6) off the bowling of Griffith (3-35).
Bacchus brought up his 50 in the 11th over. It came off 36 deliveries and he struck six fours and a maximum. He lost partner Vishaul Singh (1) with the score 77-3 in 11th over and the game looked poised for a close finish with the host needing 79 from nine overs with Bacchus well set and Ali-Mohammed, the new man at the crease.
Ashmead Nedd, however, struck by bowling Bacchus (55) to leave the score on 83 – 4 at the end of the 13th over. Bacchus’s well-crafted knock included seven fours and a maximum.
Another quick wicket fell which brought Martin Pestano Bell (18) and Ali-Mohammed together.
The duo then added 53 in quick time to make the equation interesting, leaving GCC needing 13 runs from the final over, which was defended by Barnwell as they fell six runs short, ending on 149 – 7.
Ali-Mohammed was there at the end unbeaten on 46 from 32 balls.
