An unbeaten half century and four-wicket haul from Ricky Sargeant ensured Independence Cricket Club knock out Cornelia Ida Cricket Club (CICC) from the inaugural West Demerara Cricket Association (WDCA) /Agape Lumber Yard T20 tournament with a two-wicket win at Joe Vieira Ground yesterday.
After an hour’s delay due to rain, Independence won the toss and sent CICC into bat. They were duly bowled out for 128 in 19.5 overs and the hosts in reply reached 130-8 with four balls to spare.
Independence were on top of the game from ball one reducing CICC to 24-2 with both openers, Dhaniram Azamudeen (15) and Akshaya Persaud (08) back in the pavilion.
Richie Looknauth looked settled until he was bowled for 14 by Reaz Esau as CICC slipped to 48-3.
However, Vickash Dhaniram made use of being dropped once to bring CICC back into the game with a 21-ball 42 consisting of one four and five sixes.
Dhaniram was supported by Naveed Ali (12) but both batsmen were stumped off the bowling of left-arm spinner, Sargeant in the 13th over with CICC struggling at 73-5.
Sargeant struck twice to finish with 4-13 as only Richard Barker managed to reach 10 at the back end of the innings.
In reply, Looknauth returned with the new ball to rock Independence, blowing away the top order with his off-spin, taking four wickets for just one run as the hosts slumped to 23-4.
However, Sargeant’s lone hand of 65 not out carried his side over the line. He faced 38 balls and struck seven sixes and five fours. He took a liking to Dhaniram, taking 13 runs off of his one over while bringing the equation down to five from the last over where Persaud was hoisted over the mid-wicket boundary to end the match.
Vivian Beckles (19) and Emart Samuels (15) were the only other batsmen with double figure scores.
