Different cast, same script!

Sep 27, 2008 Sports

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Ordinary Demerara whip Essequibo in El Dorado

opener

By Sean Devers
It was a different cast but same script yesterday at the Everest ground as

Essequibo, with their usual lack of tactical savvy and reckless running between the wicket, crashed to a predictable 83-run defeat against an ordinary looking Demerara unit in the opening round of the El Dorado senior Inter County 50-overs cricket competition.

Without a single win against Demerara at this level in close to three decades, going to watch Essequibo play at the Inter County level is like turning up to a movie already knowing how it ends and yesterday was no different.

If the standard of cricket from both teams were generally disappointing, the large working day crowd suggested that if promoted well, the final, to be played under lights at the Stadium on Friday will attract a massive turn-out.

West Indies under-19 batsman Rajendra Chandrika batted fluently at the top of the order on a slow track in sultry conditions and his 89-ball 65 with three boundaries on the heavy outfield was the highlight of the match. Chandrika looked assured from the inception but Skipper and West Indies batsman Leon Johnson struggled to really dominate in his fighting 75-ball 41.

Krishna Deosarran again looked full of talent with a run-a-ball 42 and debutant Ravi Sarwan finished unbeaten on a cameo 44 from 37 balls despite being struck on his knee by pacer Trevon Garraway.

Asked to bat first, Demerara scored 72 from their last 10 overs to reach 242-5

off their allotted 50 overs as left-arm spinner Robert Moore grabbed 3-54 for the visitors.

Essequibo, who limped to 159-9 when their 50 overs expired, were at one stage 78-6 in the 28th over but loose cricket from Demerara and a 43-run seventh wicket stand from debutant Navishal Pooran, who struck two mighty sixes in his 81-ball unbeaten 31 and former Guyana under-19 pacer Ryan Hercules, who clobbered two sixes from 40 balls in 27, prolonged the inevitable.

This was after Denish Joseph (30) and Norman Fredericks (13) had added 44 in nine overs for the first wicket.
Pooran, the leading run scorer in the Busta Essequibo Cricket Festival which was used to pick the Essequibo side, found free scoring a tedious proposition and was dropped twice off successive balls on 16 by wicketkeeper Joseph Perry who also miss-stumped him off spinner Steven Jacobs.

Pooran capitalized on Joseph’s dismal work behind the stumps yesterday by lofting Jacobs for a towering six, but by then a rare Essequibo victory was virtually out of the question for the whipping boys of inter county cricket.

Chris Barnwell and Chandrika gave Demerara a 61-run foundation in 14 overs before Barnwell, who struck two fours and a six from 49 balls, clipped Hercules to short mid-wicket to make way for the Chandrika/Johnson partnership.

With 18 overs to go, the 19-year-old Chandrika, in his first senior inter county limited overs game, lofted Moore to long-off at 126-2 while Jacobs played back to Moore two balls later and was sent packing for a duck.

The vocal crowd, which included Director of Sports and Parliamentarian Neil Kumar, then watched as Johnson swept at off-spinner Andrew Williams and was bowled at 174-4.

Moore then bowled Deosarran, who was dropped off the spin of Joseph on 16 at long-off, to leave the score on 223-5 with two overs remaining.

Sarwan, the younger brother of Test player Ramnaresh Sarwan took the attack to the bowlers and batting with a runner in his unbeaten 44, hit two fours and two sixes after being dropped in the deep off Moore on 31.

The 28-year-old Joseph and Fredericks then flattered to deceive in their opening stand after taking 14 from the first over of the Essequibo innings bowled by Barnwell, including a scorching cover driven boundary from Joseph.

Kelon Carmichael, who bowled a tidy spell with the new ball, then had Fredericks who paid the penalty of not being more positive during the initial ‘Power-Play’ overs by deflecting a slower ball onto his stumps at 44-1.

While Joseph took consecutive edged boundaries off Barnwell, Wayne Osborne (1) edged an arm-ball from Deon Ferrier to the keeper at 45-2 and Yogeshwar Lall, who caressed Barnwell majestically for an off-driven boundary in his eight, spooned a catch to mid-off from a slower ball from Carmichael at 58-3.

Mahase Richards (9) attempted an impossible single to mid-off and was run out at 72-4 while Joseph’s top edge sweep off Zaheer Mohamed was taken at slip at 75-4.

When Rakesh Goberdhan (2) played ‘bat up and catch’ and was caught off left-arm spinner Sauid Drepaul at 78-6, Essequibo, who hold the record for lowest total at the senior inter county level (31 against Berbice at Hampton Court in 1998) were in danger of not reaching a three figure total.

However, some loose bowling from Drepaul (2-39), captaincy which lacked the killer instinct from Johnson and entertaining hitting from Hercules, took the score past 150 as the overs expired.

Drepaul (8-1-39-2), Ferrier (10-4-14-1), Carmichael (8-1-21-2), Mohamed (1-27) and Jacobs (1-17) were the wicket-takers for Demerara who will need to produce a much better performance if they hope to beat Berbice at Blairmont today.

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