Demerara dethrone Berbice to lift 50-Over title

Oct 08, 2023 Sports

GCB Senior Inter-County 50-Over Finals…

Kaieteur Sports – A spirited all-round effort from Demerara saw them dethrone now ex-champs Berbice as they hoisted the 2023 GCB Senior Inter-County 50-Over championship title following yesterday’s huge 63-run win at the Bourda Ground.

A lower-order knock from Richie Looknauth was the cornerstone of the Demerara innings, saving his side with a resilient knock of 52 off 50 (5×4 2×6). Captain Tevin Imlach resisted the effects of class bowling to hit 39 off 45 with 5 fours as the pair sealed the top two scorers spot.

Demerara bowlers shared the spoils as 4 bowlers including Qumar Torrington (1-11), Sherfane Rutherford (2-35) returned a wicket apiece as Ronaldo Alimohamed led with 4 wickets for 29 runs.

All-rounders Sherfane Rutherford (21), Akshaya Persaud (19) and Chandrapaul Hemraj (29), finished as the other primary scorers for Demerara.

Berbice never looked settled during their chase, losing wickets at regular intervals attributed to their loss, as Demerara managed to keep them to 131 all out in 28.3 overs.

Demerara team pose with coach Gavin Nedd and GCB president Bissoondyal Singh following their GCB Senior Inter-County 50-Over title win against Berbice yesterday at Bourda Ground

Apart from Kevlon Anderson who scored 40 off 52 with 3 fours, Berbice misfired tremendously with the bat as only Shimron Hetmyer (25) and Kevin Sinclair (10) reached double figures for Berbice.

After the Demerara seamers Bernard Bailey (1-18) and Qumar Torrington (1-11) landed the first strikes to removed Kevin Sinclair (10) and Nigel Deodat (7), Berbice were forced immediately onto the backfoot.

Tagenarine Chanderpaul was named the Most Valuable Player

Hetmyer struck 5 fours in his short stay at the crease before knicking Alimohamed into the gloves of Imlach. Anderson looked set for another half-century this competition but the class of the seamers proved too much as he fell to Rutherford.

Alimohamed and Looknauth wasted no time in mopping up the tailend, as they blew away the Berbician lower-order to seal one of the biggest wins in inter-county history.

Demerara did well to recover from 38-3 at one point, after losing their leading run-scorer in Tagenarine Chanderpaul (5). Left-hander Chandrapaul Hemraj for yet another game had an aggressive start, smashing 29 off 23 with 3 fours and 2 sixes, before falling to speedster Romario Shepherd (2-18).

Off-spinner Kevin Sinclair was again magical, returning figures of 4-31, operating with skill especially during crunch time of the innings. Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph and Nial Smith each chipped in with a wicket each from their overs bowled.

Imlach was proactive during his approach, finding the boundary on five occasions before Sinclair struck. The West Indies all-rounder removed the Demerara Captain, Rutherford and Persaud to help push the momentum back in favor of the Berbicians.

Looknauth ran out of partners eventually but his presence in the middle was needed as he took Berbice out of a hole. His pair of sixes and handful of fours proved to be more than enough fuel for his team’s innings.

The Berbice bowlers made inroads, including removing the half-centurion as well as the tail to restrict the opposition to a psychologically gettable total.

The post match presentation saw Chanderpaul copping the most runs award for his 169 runs including 2 half-centuries. Kevin Sinclair for his 13 wickets was named leading wicket-taker while Chanderpaul was also named Most Valuable Player.

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Bourda Ground, Demerara, dethrone, Qumar Torrington, Sherfane Rutherford

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