Hemraj falls for 99 as Demerara press for outright win

Jun 19, 2011 Sports

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By Sean Devers at Providence

Chanderpaul Hemraj missed a century by one run while left-arm spinner Raj Nanan took three wickets and Amir Khan and Neil Barry Junior two each to put Demerara in a commanding position to force an outright win against Essequibo at the end of the penultimate day of their GTM under-19 three day Inter-County under-19 cricket match at Providence yesterday.
With a first innings lead of 88, Demerara were 72-3 in their second innings enjoying an overall lead of 160 going into today’s final day.
Hemraj struck 11 fours and a six from the 204 balls he faced and batted for 274 minutes in his team’s first innings, but the 14 each from Jahron Byron and Christopher Surat were the next best scores as Demerara were dismissed 12 minutes before Lunch for 184 in their first knock.
National under-19 left-arm spinner Anthony Adams took 3-27 for Essequibo who slumped to 96 all out despite an attacking 30 from Kevon Boodie as Nanan took 3-20 with his left-arm spin and the West Indies under-19 pair of Skipper Crosse and Khan took two each.
Earlier, Demerara resumed on 103-3 with Hemraj on 61 and Byron on 13 and the pair extended their fourth wicket partnership to 58 before Byron (14) played no shot to the off-spinner and was bowled by Herry Greene.
Kamesh Yadram (8) was soon caught and bowled by Greene at 140-5 before Denish Mangal (9) was trapped leg before to Anthony Adams at 164-6 as Essequibo made an impressive start to the second day.
In glorious sunshine Hemraj threw his wicket away with an impetuous shot to fall one short of what would have been consecutive tons at Providence following his unbeaten century for Georgetown against East Bank here last week in the Demerara Inter Association 50-overs competition.
The left-hander from Everest looked set for his ton before over confidence seemed to get the better of him when he tried to get to his hundred in style by clearing mid-on and was caught off Ricardo Adams for 99 at 166-7. Khan (7) was caught behind off Anthony Adams who bowled Kevin Ogle (1) to finish off the innings after Ricardo Adams had Nanan (8) stumped at 183-9.
Essequibo began their reply in horrendous fashion after lunch as their first three batsmen fell for duck as they slumped to 4-3.
Mark Gonsalves hooked the second ball of the innings to fine-leg as Ogle struck before Barry, the son of former Guyana player Neil Barry, had Vijay Surujpaul taken at second slip and Ricardo Adams at mid-on.
Boodie, the team’s most accomplished batsman, tried to counter-attack and hit five fours in 30 including back-to-back boundaries off Khan but with the score on 41, the Parika Wicketkeeper batsman, who scored 65 and 37 in the first round against Berbice, drove Crosse to cover to spark celebrations among in the Demerara Camp.
Essequibo holds the record for the lowest total ever in a senior Inter-County four-day match when they made 31 against Berbice at Hampton Court in 1997 as spinners Mahendra Nagamootoo and Sean Devers grabbed five wickets hauls.
Yesterday their under-19 batsmen played with the same recklessness as their seniors as Essequibo stumbled to 42-5 when Anthony Adams (5) was taken at slip off Khan.
Essequibo are generally more competitive at the youth level but since no two or three day club cricket is played at any level in Guyana’s largest county, the ultra aggressive mind set of their batsmen is usually counter productive to them spending a long time at the crease which is required in two-innings cricket.
It was soon 47-6 when Raul Rooplall (4) was leg before to Nanan who also removed Greene (4) at 49-7. Just before Tea Christopher Surat trapped Ronsford Beaton leg before for one.
By Tea Essequibo were struggling on 59-8 and it took a 25-run partnership between Fredericks (17) and Mark Tyrell (10) to take them to 75 before Khan removed Fredericks and Nanan got rid of Tyrell to wrap up the innings 36 minutes after Tea.
Nanan got support from Barry (2-13) and Khan (2-24) for Demerara who began solidly in their second innings with Surat and Steve Ramdass putting on 44 for the first wicket before Surat was forced to retire hurt on 12.
The left-hander was struck in the rib cage area by a beamer from the genuinely quick Beaton, whose action raised eyebrows when he bowled the ‘effort’ balls.
Hemraj joined Ramdass who was adjudged caught behind by Umpire Zaheer Moakan off Surujpaul for 15 at 54-1 although the Wicketkeeper clearly dropped the ball.
Surat returned but did not last long; going run out for 15 at 64-3 in a mix-up with Crosse after Hemraj (20) was leg before at 64-3 to Surujpaul who finished with 2-8.
Crosse (4*)and Byron (3*) remained unbeaten at the close with Demerara in a strong position to declare early today to force and outright win to join Berbice at the top of the points standing going into the final round from Tuesday at Providence.

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