Berbice made sure that tomorrow’s clash against Demerara will be an all to play for affair, handing Essequibo a six-wicket defeat yesterday in the Guyana Cricket Board/Hand-in-Hand Under-19 Inter-County tournament.
At the La Bonne Intention ground, the match was reduced to a 36-overs-a-side affair taking into consideration, Essequibo’s traveling.
Essequibo won the toss and opted to bat first on a semi-glossy pitch under the blistering sun. However, the Cinderella County was contained to just 96 all out in 34 overs.
Berbice, in reply, raced to 97 for four with six overs remaining.
Left-arm spinner, Gourav Ramesh, pulled out a Man-of-the-Match performance, picking up 3-19 from his six overs.
Spirited fast-bowler, Leon Swamy troubled the Essequibo batsmen early on with his pace, eventually ending with two for 21 including the wicket of Essequibo captain, Ameer Singh for a 10-ball duck.
Essequibo failed to string together large partnerships despite a few batsmen getting starts. Opener, Sheldon Charles, looked positive at the crease but could not convert his luck into a significant score, being dropped on 10, 15 and 22.
The former national U-17 all-rounder managed 30 from 66 balls with one four and one six before he was run out attempting a second run that was never on.
Lance Roberts gave Essequibo a glimmer of hope with a 12-ball 19 and added 29 for the eighth wicket with Aryan Persaud who was left stranded on 15 from 45 balls.
Before the lunch break, Essequibo was looking confident having already removed opener, Shamal Angel for a first-ball duck to see Berbice on 13 for one after five overs.
When the contest resumed it was a one sided affair. Rampertab Ramnauth and Marvan Prashad shared a 43-run partnership for the second wicket. Essequibo just could not hold on to their catches as Ramnauth was dropped on 14 while Prashad was put down on six.
Prashad went on to stroke two boundaries on his way to 24 from 54 balls while Ramnauth made 21 from 47 balls, highlighted by three boundaries before being trapped leg before wicket to Roberts (1-22).
Seon Glasgow and Aaron Beharry quickly got their team over the line, ending on 21 and 19 respectively. Beharry carved two boundaries during his 36-ball innings while Glasgow clubbed one four and six over long off to end the match.
Tomorrow’s action will crown the champions as Berbice and Demerara have already won one match each.
