Essequibo captain Laurene Williams led her side to a 4-wicket victory over Demerara when the Guyana Cricket Board’s (GCB) U-19 Women’s T20 Inter-County Championship commenced yesterday at the Malteenoes Sports Club (MSC), Thomas Lands.
The home county, Demerara, won the toss and elected to bat, posting 142/5 in their allotted 20 overs. Their effort was led at the top of the order by skipper Naomi Barkoye and fellow opener Tilleya Madramootoo. Barkoye made 43 runs (56 balls), while Madramootoo registered 46 runs (61 deliveries) as the duo shared a 116-run opening partnership.
While Demerara posted 142, a whopping 43 runs of that total came by way of extras as the Essequibo bowlers were errant with the ball. When Barkoye fell in the 16th over with the score at 116, no other batter would make any substantial contribution as the Demerara innings ended tamely.
Leading the way for the Essequibians was Briana Samaroo with 2-17 (3 overs), while Tremaine Marks (1-19, 4 overs) and Williams (1-33, 4 overs) snared a wicket apiece.
In response, Essequibo lost their openers Tremaine Marks (13) and Aliyah Da Silva (11) within the first 7 overs, but their skipper Williams, along with Shonette Belgrave, guided their side close to victory with a 61-run fourth wicket partnership.
In addition to Williams and Belgrave’s partnership, the Demerara attack returned the favour to the Essequibo side, conceding 40 extras of their own. By the time Williams was dismissed, she had gotten to 32 (24 balls, 2x4s), while Belgrave made an equally important 27 from just 17 deliveries. Her knock included two fours and a six.
The Essequibo side got home with 2.5 overs to spare and four wickets in hand to record a surprise victory.
Bowling for Demerara, Barkoye led the way with 2-25 (4 overs) and received support from Niya Latchman (2-27, 4 overs).
Today will see Essequibo and Berbice battling each other at 1:30pm with the final round bowling off tomorrow with Demerara squaring off against Berbice.
