Wicket-keeper Anthony Bramble smashed a century to help Berbice secure a sizeable 189 run win over Demerara in the Guyana Cricket Board’s Senior Inter-County 50-over championship on Monday.
Watched by a fair-sized crowd at Bourda, Berbice won the toss and opted to bat first in a game reduced to 45 overs due to early morning rain.
It proved to be a good call by captain Veerasammy Permaul, as Berbice proceeded to dominate the Demerara bowling attack.
Bramble and 19-year-old debutant Rampertab Ramnauth set the tone for the innings with a 91-run opening partnership in 14 overs. Ramnauth made 36 off 50 balls (4x4s).
Bramble and West Indies left-hander Shimron Hetmyer then proceeded to put the game beyond Demerara, adding 105 for the second wicket in just 12.4 overs.
Demerara found some relief when Bramble was trapped leg before for 106 off 83 (14x4s, 2x6s), and Hetmyer was dismissed shortly after for 58 off 46 (2x4s, 3x6s) at 230-3 in the 32nd over, but that only opened the floodgates as Jonathan Foo and Romario Shepherd went into T20 mode.
The pair racked up 88 in 8.4 overs for the fourth wicket to deny Demerara any chance of making a fightback. Shepherd hit two fours and four sixes in a whirlwind 40 off 28 balls, and Foo slammed 71 off 45 (5x4s, 4x6s).
Kevin Sinclair chipped in at the end with 15 not out off nine balls, as Ronaldo Ali-Mohamed took 3-66 off his nine overs.
Faced with a stiff target against a potent bowling attack, Demerara slipped to 6-2 with Chandrapaul Hemraj and Tevin Imlach both falling for two.
Opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul and skipper Leon Johnson put on 85 for the third wicket, but once both were dismissed and Christopher Barnwell soon followed, the damage was done.
Johnson top-scored with 51 off 47 (7x4s, 1×6), Chanderpaul made 39 off 50 (4x4s, 1×6) and Akshyana Persaud scored 37 off 25 (1×4, 4x6s) as Demerara folded to Berbice’s spin-heavy bowling attack.
The hosts were eventually dismissed for 174 in 29.3 overs with left-arm spinner Permaul taking 3-30, off-spinner Kevin Sinclair 3-42 and left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie 2-32.
Summary: Berbice 365-6 from 45 overs (Anthony Bramble 106, Jonathan Foo 71, Shimron Hetmyer 58, Romario Shepherd 40, Rampertab Ramnauth 36; Ronaldo Ali-Mohamed 3-66) vs Demerara 174 all out from 29.3 overs (Leon Johnson 51, Tagenarine Chanderpaul 39, Akshaya Persaud 37; Veerasammy Permaul 3-30, Kevin Sinclair 3-42, Gudakesh Motie 2-32)
Meanwhile at Everest, a century from Kemol Savory and 92 not out from Kevon Boodie helped Essequibo secured an eight-wicket victory over the GCB President’s XI.
The President’s XI batted first and recovered well from being 90-5 to post 237-8, thanks to some lower-order batting from Shamar Joseph and Kwesi Mickle.
Joseph made a top-score of 67 not out off 47 balls including seven fours and three sixes while Mickle played second fiddle with 40 off 86 (1×4, 2x6s). Suresh Dhanai chipped in with 30 off 26 (4x4s, 1×6) and opener Matthew Nandu made 27 off 34 (3x4s).
Bowling for Essequibo, left-arm spinner Anthony Adams was excellent with figures 3-14 off 10 overs, including 52 dot balls, while Ricardo Adams took 2-40 off 10.
The good recovery by the President’s XI when they batted meant Essequibo had a larger target than they initially anticipated, but any nerves were quelled by Savory and Boodie's crucial second-wicket partnership.
After the early loss of Nathan Persaud for 11, Savory and Boodie dominated the President’s XI bowling attack in a partnership of 163.
Boodie, the aggressor, smashed 11 fours and two sixes from his 102 deliveries.
Once he departed, Savory took centre stage, coasting to a magnificent hundred and sealing the victory.
His unbeaten 108 spanned 106 balls and included eight fours and three sixes. Keyron Fraser and Akini Adams were the wicket-takers for the President’s XI.
Summary: GCB President’s XI 237-8 from 50 overs (Shamar Joseph 67*, Kwesi Mickle 40, Suresh Dhanai 38, Matthew Nandu 27; Anthony Adams 3-14, Ricardo Adams 2-40) vs Essequibo 240-2 from 41.3 overs (Kemol Savory 108*, Kevon Boodie 92, Keyron Fraser 1-19, Akini Adams 1-40)
The second round of the competition will take place on Wednesday with Berbice playing Essequibo at the GCC ground, Bourda, and Demerara up against the President’s XI at Everest.
IPL: Jadeja stars as CSK move into playoff places
Chennai Super Kings moved into the Indian Premier League playoff places after beating Punjab Kings by 28 runs in Dharamshala.
The reigning champions avenged their seven-wicket defeat by the Kings in Chennai four days earlier to climb to third place in the table with three games remaining.
After a slow start, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Daryl Mitchell's partnership brought 57 runs and settled CSK into their stride. Although MS Dhoni went for a duck, Ravindra Jadeja's late surge of 43 from 26 balls saw them close at 167-9.
Tushar Deshpande claimed Jonny Bairstow and Rilee Rossouw in the second over to stem the Kings' early momentum, while Jadeja (3-20) also took a quickfire double of Sam Curran and Ashutosh Sharma in the 13th over as the hosts finished well short of their target at 139-9.
Data debrief
In getting back to winning ways, CSK ended their five-game losing streak against the Kings, stretching back to 2021.
Despite going for a duck, Dhoni managed to make amends in the field. When he caught out Jitesh Sharma, he became the first player in IPL history to take 150 catches.
Caribbean teams miss out on men's, women's 4x400m finals; get second shot at Olympic qualifcation on Sunday
There was no fortune for Caribbean countries at the backend of Saturday’s first day of the World Athletics Relays, as the various teams failed to progress in the men’s and women’s 4x400m events at the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas.
In the female qualifiers, Jamaica’s quartet of Charokee Young, Ashley Williams, Junelle Bromfield, and Roneisha McGregor placed third in heat three in 3:29.03, behind Poland and France, who clocked 3:27.11 and 3:28.06.
Earlier, Cuba (3:31.56) and Dominican Republic (3:40.93) placed third and seventh, respectively, in heat two.
Ireland headlined the team’s that progressed, as they clocked a National Record 3:24.38 in qualifying. United States (3:24.76), Great Britain (3:24.89), Italy (3:26.28), Norway (3:26.89), Poland (3:27.11), and Canada (3:27.17), also booked their spots in the final, as well as for this summer’s Paris Olympic Games.
Meanwhile, it was more of the same on the male side of action, as Trinidad and Tobago’s quartet of Asa Guevara, Timothy Frederick, Shakeem McKay, and Jereem Richards, clocking 3:04.15 for third in heat one, where Japan (3:00.98) and Germany (3:01.25) secured the coveted spots.
United States initially won the heat, but they were later disqualified for an infringement.
Jamaica’s Malik James-King, Zandrion Barnes, Assinie Wilson, and Demish Gaye, clocked 3:02.46 for third, behind Belgium (3:00.09) and Nigeria (3:01.70). Guyana (3:09.91) was eighth in that heat.
The Bahamas (3:07.45) placed sixth in heat three, which was won by Italy (3:01.68), ahead of the fast-finishing Great Britain (3:02.10).
In the last heat, Barbados (3:03.72) and Dominican Republic (3:08.15), placed third and sixth, respectively, as Botswana (2:59.73) and South Africa (2:59.76) took the top spots.
Despite missing out on this occasion, the teams will have another shot at Olympic qualification in Round 2 action on Sunday.
IPL: Du Plessis shines as RCB revival continues against Titans
A rapid 64 from captain Faf du Plessis helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a third consecutive Indian Premier League win as they again saw off Gujarat Titans.
RCB comfortably defeated the Titans in an away game six days ago and then comprehensively saw off Shubman Gill’s side once more on Saturday, this time at home.
After the Titans were bowled out for 147, RCB raced to a four-wicket victory with 38 balls to spare to move off the bottom of the IPL table, jumping up to seventh after overcoming a brief scare towards the end of their chase.
Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal and Vijaykumar Vyshak took two wickets apiece as the Titans struggled batting first, falling to 19-3 midway through the sixth over. They needed Shahrukh Khan (37), Rahul Tewatia (35) and David Miller (30) to post some kind of total, with Tewatia passing 1,000 career IPL runs.
Any faint hopes of halting RCB’s run of form were ended when Du Plessis fired 64 from just 23 balls with 10 fours and three sixes, ably supported by opening partner Virat Kohli (42).
A brief spell of chaos saw RCB fall from 92-0 to 117-6 with Josh Little taking 4-45, but Dinesh Karthik (21 not out) and Swapnil Singh (15no) steadied the ship and finished off the chase.
Data Debrief: Kohli regains Orange Cap
While Du Plessis top scored in this game, another good knock from Kohli, who hit four maximums, saw the India great regain possession of the Orange Cap. With 542 runs in IPL 2024, Kohli has a narrow lead over CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (509).
Kohli is averaging 67.75 and striking at 148.08, with four fifties and a century to his name from just 11 innings in a memorable campaign.
He has helped RCB recover from being beaten in seven of their first eight games, while the Titans, finalists in each of the last two editions, have now lost four of their last five.
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