Hercules, Persaud lead Parika Salem to Mohamed’s Memorial 40-over title

Nov 04, 2015 Sports

Led by a fine half century by all-rounder Ryan Hercules and a five-wicket haul by

Members of the victorious Parika Salem team with their accolades.

Hemchand Persaud, host Parika Salem defeated Tuschen South Side by 57 runs to win the final of the Mohamed’s Memorial 40-over tournament on Sunday, East Bank Essequibo (EBE).

Parika Salem found themselves in early trouble after they were inserted on a difficult pitch. Left arm spinner Ricardo Adams removed opener Rajiv Balgobin (04), Malcolm Hubbert sent back Kemol Savory (07) and Bernard Lewis uprooted the stumps of Sase Narine (12).
But the experienced Ryan Hercules and wicketkeeper batsman Kevon Boodie steadied the chase with a fourth wicket stand of 52 with level-headed batting witnessed by a fair-sized crowd. Hercules was very watchful, hitting four fours and one six in his 53 while Boodie struck two fours and one six before he went for 27.
Yougister Bachan hit 17 (3×4) while Michael Goberdhan (12) was the only other batsman to reach double figures as the host scored 155 all out in 38 overs. Lewis finished with 3-29 off eight overs, Terry Newton 3-31, Adams 2-16 and Hubbert 2-28.
Kevin Christian and Hubbert added 30 for the opening partnership to give Tuschen South Side a decent start before Hubbert was removed by Brian Herbert for 18 (3×4). Herbert then accounted for Ricardo Adams (00) and Lewis (00) to leave the visitors on 33-3.
Christian then shared a fourth wicket stand of 24 with Ronaldo Renee (09) to keep their team in hunt. But when Renee was removed by Narine and off-spinner Jason Heyliger accounted for Christian who made 20 (2×4), the rest of the batting found the bowling of left arm spinner Persaud too difficult to handle and were sent packing for 98 in 28.5 overs.
Persaud extracted considerable bounce and turn to finish with 5-16 off 6.4 overs while Herbert claimed 3-13, Narine 2-32 and Heyliger 1-14. Hercules was given the man-of-the-match award while Boodie with 329 runs from six matches took the best batsman prize. Persaud who took 11 wickets from five games was the most outstanding bowler.
Boodie pocketed the accolades for the highest individual score (108 vs Hyde Park) and the most dismissals (07) while Trevor Benn turned in the best individual figure (5-11 vs Zeelugt). President of the East Bank Essequibo Cricket Committee (EBECC) Alvin Johnson congratulated the winners and thanked the sponsors Mohamed’s Mining of EBE. (Zaheer Mohamed)