Guyana out of title race after 3-wkt loss to St Vincent

Aug 19, 2009 Sports

By Sean Devers

In conditions ideal for cricket and with the crowd again behind them, Guyana’s lack of match preparation for the Regional Womens’ 50-overs cricket tournament was exposed in their 3-wicket loss to St Vincent at the Police ground yesterday as they were knocked out of the race for the title.

Top scorer Gale (right) and Van Sertima leave the field after their fighting last wicket stand for Guyana yesterday.

Guyana, who will aim for a consolation win against Grenada in their final match tomorrow at Blairmont after losing to T&T on Sunday, fell for 153 in 49.1 overs as an unbeaten 45 from Darlene Gale led a late order rally after the local lasses had slumped to 78-8 on a placid track after winning the toss.

Player-of-the-Match Cordel Jack then struck 5 fours in an accomplished 51 from 95 balls after fellow West Indian Female player Juliana Nero had contributed an important 29 for the Islands ladies.

When Jack swept off-spinner Devanie Sewnarine to square leg at 114-6 in the 34th over, Guyana, urged on by the vocal crowd, still had a chance of reaching the semi-finals with a win. However, Sheree-Ann John stuck around to make 22 and by the time she was removed by pacer Erva Giddings victory was just 7 runs away.

Nicole Samuel (9*) maintained her composer and along with Meilsia Billingy (2*) saw their team to their 2nd consecutive win in the tournament and a semi-final place.

Guyana lost their openers (June Ogle-Thomas 5 & Sewnarine 5) with just 15 runs on the board and lost wickets rapidly although Tremayne Smartt (12) and 16-year-old Shamaine Campbell (19) offered some middle order resistance before John (3-31) removed them both after dismissing Skipper Zaheeda Samdally for a duck as 2 wickets tumbled at 35 and Campbell lofted a catch to deep cover just when she was beginning to look dangerous.

Jack had Sabrina Munroe stumped for a duck while 11 runs later it was 65-7 when Prudence Williams (6) was bowled by Terisha Lavia. When Olivia O’Selmo (5) was run out at 78-7, many predicted an early finish.

But the 32-year-old Gale, playing on her home ground, batted with wonderful maturity and punished the bad balls while working the good ones into gaps or defending to rally Guyana past the 150 mark.

Gale, who hit 2 fours in her unfinished 89 ball innings, added 50 with the left-handed Giddings before Giddings edged Phernel Charles (3-36) to the keeper at 128-9. Giddings hit 2 fours and faced 44 balls before her demise.

With the left-arm spinner Joann Van Sertima (who did not bowl a ball in the match) offering solid support to her fellow Police player, the last pair frustrated the Vincentians with a 25-run stand before Vansertima (6) was run in the last over trying to give Gale the strike.

With the West Indies selectors watching as they prepare to pick the regional female side for their ODI and 20/20 tour of South Africa from October 6, Samdally, who swung the new ball, got rid of Samantha Lynch (5) at 9-1 to keep her team’s victory hope alive.

Two runs later, the Guyana skipper, who also trains with Police, produced a beauty which scattered Camille Garrick’s stumps to push St Vincent on the ropes and the fans, which included former Guyanese West Indies female players Indomatie Goordial-John and Candacy Atkins who are now involved with the USA female cricket team, showed their appreciation.

Nero joined Jack and with confident and at times punishing stroke-play revived the position as they looked a class above their team mates with the bat. While Jack played an array of authentic cricket shots and favored the drive, Nero, who was dropped by Samdally at 42-2, was more brutal and a straight drive off Samdally reached the boundary like a bullet.

Smartt bowled Nero at 47-3 before Williams, who bowled a tight spell of flat on-target off-spin from the top end, removed Hazel-Ann Foster (3) at 73-4 before Munroe trapped Clea Hoyte (7) LBW at 108-5.

Sewnarine produced prodigious turn and flighted the ball well and after a very confident LBW shout to Jack (who played no shot to a ball which turned back from outside off stump) was turned down with the right-hander on 42. She had the last laugh by getting rid of the talented batter. But even though Giddings had John just before the close, the small target was always going to be difficult to defend on the small ground, especially with quality batters like Jack and Nero in the line-up.

Samdally took 2-30 for Guyana and will hope that the Guyana Cricket Board will focus a lot more attention on especially the mental, tactical and technical preparation for next year’s tournament if Guyana, who has endured a miserable run at all levels of regional cricket this year, is to once again become a force to be reckoned with in West Indies cricket.

Today’s matches in Regional Women’s cricket

:
Barbados vs St Lucia at Everest
Jamaica vs Dominica at DCC