NAGICO Regional Super50 cricket...Guyana Malta Supreme holds nerve, beat W/Wards by 22 runs

NAGICO Regional Super50 cricket…Guyana Malta Supreme holds nerve, beat W/Wards by 22 runs

Feb 05, 2014 Sports

Join Jamaica in semis

By Sean Devers in Trinidad: In Association with Digicel, Carib Beer,

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In 2007 in Grenada Royston Crandon made 101 on debut but Liam Sebastien with an unbeaten 72 led the Windward Islands to their highest total against Guyana as the Islanders reached 256-4 to win that contest off the very last ball.
But last night at the Queens Park Oval, the Windwards were toppled for 213 off 46.4 overs under lights, responding to the 235-7 off 50 overs made by the Guyanese in their NAGICO Super50 game.

Beaton celebrates another wicket with teammates.

Guyana Malta Supreme joined Jamaica in the semi-finals and the two teams now face off in their final preliminary round in a virtual zone final on Saturday to decide the winner of Zone ‘A’.
Led by contrasting half-centuries from Ramnaresh Sarwan (62), Assad Fudadin (51) and Skipper Christopher Barnwell (51) Guyana received four points from the match to move to nine points, the same as Jamaica.
Mervin Matthew bagged 4-41 and Delorn Johnson 2-39 in a losing cause for the defending Champions who lost by 22 runs despite 35 from Johnson Charles and 33 from Keddy Lesporis. Veerasammy Permaul had 3-24, man-of-the-match Ronsford Beaton 3-47 and Devendra Bishoo 2-42.
Played in mostly cloudy conditions on a track with a good covering of grass that offered prodigious bounce and pace for the fast bowlers, the Guyanese, without the injured Shiv Chanderpaul suffering from an abscess on his inner thigh, won the toss and opted to bat first.
Trevon Griffith nibbled at one that left him from Delorn Johnson and was caught behind for a duck and the Guyanese were in early trouble at 1-3.
Fudadin, who replaced Chanderpaul in the side, was struck on his glove, fending a nasty short ball from left-arm pacer Johnson and again in the rib cage area by left-arm fast bowler Kenroy Peters.

Branwell cuts during his innings.

First match top scorer Sarwan was dropped by wicketkeeper Andre Fletcher off Johnson before he had opened his personal account; the new ball pair constantly pushing the batmen on the back foot. After 10 overs Guyana were struggling on 17-1.
The sun returned in all its glory and a handful of spectators watched Fudadin struck Guyana’s first boundary in the 15th over while in the next over Sarwan’s under-edge reached the boundary. This was followed by an upper-cut from Fudadin for another boundary.
The first fifty was posted in 20.3 overs and Sarwan celebrated the land mark with an enterprising pull for six off Mervin Matthew but the Islanders, who defeated Guyana in their last two encounters at this level, maintained their stranglehold.
The 28-year-old Fudadin who has a fifty from his three Tests, and the experienced Sarwan embarked on ‘operation rebuild’ but when they had taken the score to 92 in the 31st over, Fudadin was put down at long-off by Matthew off Sebastien on 35.
Sarwan got to his second consecutive half-century in the tournament and 13th for Guyana from 82 balls aided by three fours and a six while Fudadin used his feet and struck Sebastien back over his head for four to try and free the shackles.
Sarwan changed gear with consecutive boundaries off left-arm spinner Garey Mathurin but soon hit a high full toss from the same bowler and was caught after facing 92 balls aided by five fours and a six. His partnership with Fudadin was worth 121 valuable runs.
At Sarwan’s demise on 124-2, Barnwell joined Fudadin who soon departed when he swept Matthew to short square leg with the score on 130 but his 51 took 120 balls and included five fours.

Ramnaresh Sarwan

For the second game in a row Barnwell was asked to rescue his team from a pedestrian start. However, yesterday’s pitch was a lot more difficult to bat on than the one against Ireland.
Barnwell and Johnson, who again played a superb cameo at the ‘death’, put together 84 runs in nine overs, stepping on the accelerator with an array of exhilarating strokes on the lightning fast Oval sward.
Johnson was dismissed by Charles with 3.3 overs to go for a quick fire 31-ball 41 with three fours and two sixes at 214-4 and Narsingh Deonarine (2) fell cheaply when he slapped Johnson straight to cover four runs later.
But Barnwell, who reached his 50 off 41 balls with four fours and two sixes, was bowled off the last ball for an explosive 51 as he and Anthony Bramble (2) fell to Matthew in three balls.
Devon Smith is the only player from the Windwards with a century at this level against Guyana but last night he only managed five as the genuinely quick Beaton sent the Grenadian’s middle stump cart-wheeling in spectacular fashion with a perfect yorker with the score on 35-1.
Charles (35) missed a wild swipe at Barnwell and had his stumps scattered to leave his team on 55-2. Tyrone Theophile back cut Veerasammy Permaul and drove Barnwell gloriously for boundaries and along with Fletcher carried the Windwards to 95 before Fletcher (17) seemed unlucky to be given LBW to Bishoo.
Theophile hit five fours in 31 but was also LBW to Bishoo at 96-4. St Lucian Lesporis who scored the first ton in this year’s competition and Vincentian Romel Currency kept the hunt alive with positive batting by taking the score to 157 with their 61-run before Currency (19) dragged one back onto his stumps.
Man-of-the-match Beaton greeted Sebastien with a wicked bouncer while Wintz trapped Lesporis (33) LBW in the next over.
But the Windwards were not giving up without a fight and Matthew rocked back and smashed Permaul for consecutive boundaries. Matthew (24) was removed by the impressive Beaton but with Sebastien still there, memories of the 2007 defeat in Grenada must have begun to haunt the Guyanese.
A wild return from Sarwan went for four overthrows and with 30 to get from 36 balls the pressure was mounting on both sides. Mathurin (2) fell to Permaul who dismantled Johnson’s stumps.