Pooran, Crandon, Ivan bat Berbcie to title despite Barnwell's 50

Pooran, Crandon, Ivan bat Berbcie to title despite Barnwell’s 50

Nov 19, 2009 Sports

Vishal Singh hits ton for Rest team against E’bo

Vishal Singh

By Sean Devers
Half-centuries from Homchand Pooran, Royston Crandon and Rajiv Ivan batted Berbcie to first innings points against Demerara on the second day of their Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) 4-day final round cricket match at Everest yesterday.
The first innings lead guarantees Berbice of Championships honours half-way though the final round regardless of the outcome of the match or the one between host Essequibo and the Rest Team in Anna Regina.
Replying to Demerara’s 248, Berbice resumed on 29-0 and fell for 304 to give them a 56-run lead against the home team who reached 119-0 in their 2nd innings to enter today penultimate day with a lead of 63.
The 30-year-old Pooran, who scored 16 & 3 in the last of his First-Class matches in an 11-match checkered career, continued his dominance at this level with a rock-solid 80 from 132 balls, 79 minutes with 8 fours before he was leg before in the first over from leg-spinner Leon Johnson on the stroke of Tea.
Royston Crandon, with a solitary ODI to his name, hit a robust 70 decorated with 8 fours and 3 sixes while the left-handed Ivan smashed 4 fours and 2 sixes in 52 and Davendra Bishoo finished unbeaten on 23 as Berbice overhauled Demerara’s total on a track with some turn in sultry conditions.
Delbert Hicks failed to add to his overnight 17 and provided 17-year-old left-arm pacer Andre Stoll, who bowled a steady line and length, a catch to the Keeper to claim his first scalp at this level and leave Berbice on 29-1.

Chris Barnwell pulls Brendon Bess past a diving Delbert Hicks for one of his 7 fours during his unbeaten 67 at Everest yesterday.

Steven Jacobs’ fast improving off-spin then accounted for the wickets of Artley Bailey (17) and Skipper Assad Fudadin (0) in quick succession before he removed the dangerous Crandon on the stroke of Lunch to keep Demerara in the hunt for the title.
Ranga Latchana (9) was run out early in the 2nd session before Ivan and Crandon joined forces in their half-century partnership to see their team to first innings points.
Leg-spinner Troy Gonsalves then had Ivan and Permaul (0) in the same over before bowling Esuan Crandon (10) while Skipper Zaheer Mohamed, who has strangely bowled consistently from round the wicket in this competition, finished the innings when Brendon Bess (9) was taken at short-leg.
Gonsalves (3-52) and Jacobs (3-56) were the most successful bowlers for Demerara who batted without much bother for 67 minutes until bad light ended the day’s play at 17:18hrs.
Chris Barnwell played an array of belligerent shots and hit 7 fours and 2 sixes on the large ground in his undefeated 69 while Rajendra Chandrika played the supporting role with a disciplined unbeaten 36 with 4 boundaries and will have his sights set on becoming the first batsman since Leonard Baichan made 132 and 101 against Demerara in the 1982 Jones Cup final at Albion to score 2 hundreds in the same match at this level.
In the other match in Essequibo, the Rest Team, replying to Essequibo’s 226, reached 276-8 by the close of play at Ann Regina to go into the 3rd day with a lead of 50 runs.
Resuming on 47-2, Vishal Singh continued his brilliant form by following up his unbeaten 97 in the last round and 110 in his last match for GCC over the weekend with another magnificent display to reach his maiden ton at this level (113) while Deon Ferrier made an unbeaten 58, Waslim Haslim 58, Sauid Drepaul 37 and West Indies under-19 opener Trevon Griffith 29 as Guyana under-19 Vice-Skipper Royston Alkins captured 4-65 for Essequibo, the only team never to win a senior title in Guyana’s inter county competition.