Youth got the better of experience yesterday at the Area H Ground where Rose Hall Town Bakewell defeated Number One Road by 10 wickets in the opening round of the Berbice Cricket Board/ New Building Society second-division 40-overs-a-side tournament.
It took little under two hours for the defending champions to inflict the final blow to Number One Road as the cool breeze from the Atlantic Ocean whistled across the dry and dusty ground in scorching sunshine.
Number One Road, in their return to competitive cricket after a 10-year absence, disappointed their handful of supporters who had little to cheer for as they posted a paltry 49 in 18.4 overs after winning the toss and opting to bat.
The longest wait was to have a batsman replace the fall of a teammate as wickets tumbled at a considerably fast rate.
Opener, Jermaine Anderson and skipper were the only two batsmen to reach double figures. They each scored 11 runs from 10 and 18 balls respectively but fell to contrasting deliveries.
Anderson had just flicked a delivery from left-arm seamer, Erva Giddings into the backward square boundary but followed up that shot with a faint edge to the wicketkeeper.
So silent was the ground that the snick was heard as loud as the booming speakers from the Rose Hall Town Village Day wash-down on the beach.
With wickets tumbling, Khemraj was forced to play a wild swipe as the pressure mounted with the rash of wickets falling at the other end. He eventually held out to Chanderpaul Govindhan at cover.
Keith Simpson led the decimation with 4-6 from his five overs and he also pulled in two return catches. The 19-year-old left-arm spinner was supported by the Sinclair cousins, Kevin and Junior who took one wicket each.
Leg-spinner, Doorsammy Mahadeo, claimed 2-3 from 10 deliveries.
The Sinclair cousins returned for the chase that lasted 20 minutes as they eased to 53 without loss from 5.1 overs.
Junior Sinclair was the more aggressive of the two in the partnership, racing to 35 not out from 22 balls. His innings was decorated with five fours and two sixes, one of which was launched into the J.C. Chandisingh Secondary School compound over the sight screen.
At the other end, Kevin Sinclair (12 not out) played the supporting role in his seven-ball knock but finished the match with a belligerent six over mid-off.
