A spirited performance from Demerara’s bowlers and a defiant half-century from Looknauth lifted their team past the defending champions, Berbice by 63 runs to claim the GCB Inter-County Super50 title.
Asked to bat first on a good surface, Demerara lost their prolific opener, Tagenarine Chanderpaul (5) in the second over to spell early trouble. Mavindra Dindyal then lost his wicket for 2 when he was bowled by Romario Shepherd. Chanderpaul Hemraj fought back with a cameo 29 from 23 balls but fell after chasing a wide ball and being caught on the third man boundary. Akshaya Persaud joined his captain, Tevin Imlach and together the two posted 51 for the 4th wicket before Akshaya (19) was bowled by a beauty from Kevin Sinclair. Kevin Sinclair accounted for the next 4 wickets by having Imlach (39) caught at slip, Sherfane Rutherford (21) and Banerd Bailey (3) bowled, and having Ronaldo Ali-Mohamed brilliantly run out for 0 to leave the Demerara side at 148-8. Richie Looknauth stepped up and threw some counter punches hitting 5 fours and 2 sixes in his knock of 52 not out to push his team’s tally up to 194 in 39.5 overs. Kevin Sinclair finished with 4-31 (10), Romario Shepherd got 2-18 (5) and Nial Smith, Shamar Joseph and Gudakesh Motie finished with a wicket each.
In reply, Berbice got off to a good start as openers Kevin Sinclair and Nigel Deodat took 11 off Hemraj’s opening over. A couple of tight overs from Banerd Bailey and Qumar Torrington pulled back the scoring rate and led to Deodat (7) playing a loose shot and being caught behind. Sinclair (10) followed soon after as the Demerara bowlers demonstrated good control over the new ball. Shimron Hetmyer (25) tried to counter attack but he too edged behind as Berbice struggled to form any meaningful partnerships. With the exception of Kevlon Anderson (40), no one else got to double figures. Player of the match, Ronaldo Ali-Mohamed finished with 4-29 (8) and Sherfane Rutherford supported with 2-35 (7).
Scores:
Demerara 194 All Out (38.5 overs)
Looknauth 52*, Imlach 39, Hemraj 29
K Sinclair 4-31 (10), Shepherd 2-18 (5)
Berbice 131 All Out (28.3 overs)
Anderson 40, Hetmyer 25, K Sinclair 10
Ali-Mohamed 4-29 (8), Rutherford 2-35 (7)
Individual Awards
Player of the match: Ronaldo Ali-Mohamed (4-29)
Most Runs: Tagenarine Chanderpaul (169)
Most Wickets: Kevin Sinclair (13)
Most Valuable Player: Tagenarine Chanderpaul (169 runs; Avg 84.5)
All the attention is now on the panel of selectors ahead of the CWI Regional Super50 slated to bowl off on October 17.