WITH OPENERS Junior Sinclair and Brandon Mangal laying the foundation for a huge total, a Berbice Under-15 lineup defeated their counterparts from the United States of America Cricket Academy (USACA) by 56 runs on the Duckworth/Lewis Method at the Everest Cricket Club ground yesterday.Winning the toss and opting to bat first on a straw-coloured track at the Camp Road-based venue, Berbice Under-15 posted 185 for 9 from their 50 overs, with Garfield Benjamin 43 (3×4), Sinclair 30 (4×4), Mangar 24 (2×4) and Haifa Walters an unbeaten 21 (2×4, 1×6) leading their batting.
Sinclair and Mangar posted 62 for the first wicket before they were separated, following which the Berbicians, who slipped to 92 for 5 following the demise of Kevlon Anderson (4), Alex Algoo (1) and Seon Glasgow (6), were revived by a 43-run, sixth-wicket partnership between Benjamin and Andre Bissoondial (5).
When Bissoondial was caught by a leaping Praneel Jadhav at wide mid-on off Aman Patel (2 for 39), Berbice were 135 for 6 in the 39th over, but Walters, who struck the first delivery of the final over from Michael Katwaroo for six, ensured his side posted a match-winning total on a track that is conducive to spin.
Sanjay Jonathan ended with 3 for 18 from 9.4 overs, after Santosh Reddy was disqualified from the attack, after he sent down two above-the-waist deliveries, even as Aman Patel and Katwaroo, whose final delivery of the Berbice innings was struck for four by the pint-sized Nivendra Persaud, finished with 2 for 39 each.
In their turn to bat, the Americans struggled to come to grips to the guile of Kelvin Omrao and Persaud and folded for 110 in 33.2 overs, after being set a revised target of 166 in 42, when rain stopped play for 35 minutes.
They were coasting along at 24 for 1 off six overs, losing Jadhav, who was bowled by Walters for 3, when rain stopped play and on the resumption they lost wickets regularly despite wicketkeeper/batsman Nand Kishan Das shouldering the responsibility with a mature 44 (5×4).
Omrao finished with 4 for 17 from 7.2 overs and Persaud 2 for 16 from 8, as only Jonathan (11) and Katwaroo 10 reached double figures. Extras contributed a healthy 34 to the visitors’ total with wides making up 19.
The visitors will take on a Demerara Under-15 lineup at the Demerara Cricket Club ground from 11:00hrs, with this game being a 40 overs-a-side contest.
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