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Chanderpaul, Haniff hit unbeaten fifties
Paul Persaud rolls back the years with boundary filled 31
Played in a jovial atmosphere under lights at Bourda on Thursday night, Ex-Guyana opener Azeemul Haniff and former West Indies and Guyana batsman Shiv Chanderpaul made unbeaten fifties, while former Guyana opener
GCC Club Captain Graham Alli (right) presents Persaud with his plaque.
Paul Persaud hit seven fours in an unbeaten 31 in a specially arranged 25-over match to honour Persaud.
The 44-year-old Persaud returned to Guyana for the first time in 15 years, the same amount of time that the left-hander had not picked up a bat.
But on a slow track, lush green outfield and in windy conditions, Persaud rolled back the years with an array of classical cover drives to remind those old enough to remember why he was once regarded as the most talented young openers in the West Indies before illness linked to death of his mother in 1991, put his promising career in disarray.
The two teams were led by the Persaud siblings Peter, a former national U-19 opener and Paul.
Paul’s team, led by two useful partnerships involving the still extremely fit 42-year-old Chanderpaul, won by nine wickets after posting 140-1 replying to Peter’s X1 138-8 in 25 overs.
Peter’s X1 total was mainly due to an accomplished undefeated 56 from 39 balls decorated with five fours and a six from Haniff, who is just one of two players with inter-county 50-over double centuries. His double was made for Demerara against Essequibo on his home ground Bourda. Essequibo’s Kevin Boodie is the other player to achieve the feat.
Haniff looked just as good as when he made 235 against Bangladesh at Bourda when he and Sewnarine Chattergoon shared in a triple century opening stand for Guyana.
The 38-year-old Haniff, who played 51 First-Class games, played some delightful cover drives and confident strokes to the wide long-on boundary after losing Douglas DeGroot, bowled by National U-19 player Renaldo Mohamed-Ali for a duck.
He added 48 for the second wicket with Devon Lord (19) on a night the left-handers dominated the scoring on both sides.
Former Guyana Youth batsman Anthony Rigby showed he had not lost his flair only his fitness when he hit former Test pacer Reon King behind point for four to break the sequence of lefties. But two more southpaws, Peter Persaud (10) and ex-Guyana keeper Shiek Mohamed (15) supported Haniff who retired once he reached his fifty.
Chanderpaul (bowling medium pace) and International Umpire Nigel Dugid (left-arm spin) had two wickets each.
Former Guyana U-19 left-hander Richard Jodah, who survived two confident LBW shouts against off-spinner Sean Devers, bowling in his first match since his brain Surgery in 2012, played some elegant drives in his 29 and reached the boundary four times before he retired.
Chanderpaul, who showed no signs of his finger injury when he made 165 against DCC for Everest last weekend, pulled Devers for three boundaries before reaching his fifty with consecutive sixes off left-arm spinner Les Ramalho.
The experienced Chanderpaul then added 90 with Paul who accelerated after a slow start to spinners.
The younger of the Persaud brother is still the only batsman with 1,000 runs for Guyana at U-19 level. He drove Mark Ferreira past mid-on before hitting the medium pacer for four consecutive off-side boundaries in the expensive over.
Persaud was not done yet and swept Edward Bowen for successive fours as Dexter McKenzie (4) was the only batsman dismissed when a direct by Ferreira found him short of his ground.
After the game glowing tributes were paid to Paul and a plaque was presented to the former West Indies U-19 opener and GCC player by his club for his outstanding contribution to GCC, Guyana and the West Indies.
President of GCC Lionel Jaikarran were among those who spoke at the presentation. He told the gathering that it was great to see the level of camaraderie among those who played with Paul in the 80s and 90’s.
Persaud was overwhelmed with emotions when he spoke about his mother’s death which he said badly affected his cricket and the support he got from his close relatives which keep him from joining his late mother in Heaven. The match was organised by Jodah.
Sheik Mohamed presented 30 uniforms from his Enmore based Sports Store ‘Star Sports’ (formally Tiger Sports) to the GCC U-13 section.
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