Looknauth spurs Essequibo to inaugural title

Sep 09, 2022 Sports

Guyana Cup T20 in Queens NY…

By Sean Devers

On a day blessed with sunny conditions at Baisley Pond Park in Queens New York, a raucous crowd of close to 1,000 spectators watched as Essequibo Jaguars whipped Demerara Eagles by four wickets to take the inaugural Guyana Cup T20 Cricket Title.

Manager Ejaz Asgarally (left) and Captain Nickolas Chinkoo

In the final, the Essequibo Jaguars won the toss and opted to field and dismissed Demerara Eagles for 127 in 19.3 overs before reaching 127-6 with 16 balls to spare.

Off-spinning all-rounder Richie Looknauth scored a well compiled unbeaten 40 from 49 balls with four boundaries and got support from Shiv Sangaleema and Chetram Balgobin with 22 each to ensure the Essequibo Jaguars won the first ever Guyana Cup.

Earlier, Vedeshpaul Singh smashed four fours and three sixes in a pugnacious 41 from 24 balls but his top score was in vain as only Michael Sultan, who hit two for and three sixes in his 18-balls, offered support.

Keshram Seyhodan had 3-23, Kelvin Shewprasad 3-26 while Looknauth returned with ball to take 2-16 to claim to the Man-of-the-Match Award.

In the first game, the Essequibo Jaguars defeated the USA/Guyana Majestic by nine wickets.

USA/Guyana were skittled out for 92 in 13.1 overs with the skipper Nick Chinkoo taking a hat-trick to finish with 3-8.

Richie Looknath was adjudged Man-of-the-match

The Jaguars roared to 94 in 6.3 overs losing only the wicket of Ronaldo Renee. The exciting Raymond Perez smashed a brilliant unfinished 54 off just 20 deliveries.

In the second game, Demerara Eagles defeated Berbice Lions in an exciting last over thriller.

Berbice Lions made 187-7 off 20 overs with the flamboyant Akshay Homraj scoring a magnificent 105 not out.

In reply, Demerara scored 188 for 9 in their 20 overs with Kieran Karishma scoring 51.

The Jaguars owner Ejaz Asgarally thanked the sponsors and supporters who came out in large numbers to support the Essequibo Jaguars Franchise.

“Many thanks to Indranie Persaud, the team’s coordinator, for the hard work and dedication towards the team,” said Asgarally.

“I am very pleased with the performances of this team and would like to thank the Captain Nickolas Chinkoo, Coach Ricky Kissoon Assistant Coach Deonauth Baksh and the entire team for their hard work to give the Essequibo Jaguars the first title of the Guyana Cup 2022 tournament.The Essequibo team was mostly young players who came out of Guyana youth teams,” Asgarally stated.

“Our fielding and catching was exceptional. We won because of excellent fielding and captaincy.

I hosted a dinner at my home for the Essequibo team. It was attended by Fazal Yusuf (JOE) and Indranie Persaud of the Guyana Consulate office here in NY,” concluded Asgarally, who represented Guyana at the U-19 level from 1987-1989.

The Essequibo Jaguars were sponsored by Dave West Indian, Melanie’s Roti shop, Avinash Rampadarat Lic Real Estate Agent, Better Vision Optical, Eddie’s Furniture, Big G Auto Repair, Sylvia Surinamese Delicacies and A ONE SIGNS Richmond Hill NY

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News