At GCC: Berbice thrash Demerara by 189 runs
SUMMARY: Berbice 363-6 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)
Watched by a fair-sized crowd at the country’s former Test venue, 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 brilliant call by skipper Veerasammy Permaul, as the Berbicians proceeded to maul a relatively inexperienced Demerara bowling attack.
Bramble and 19-year-old debutant Rampertab Ramnauth set the tone for the innings with a high-tempo opening partnership of 91 in 14 overs. Ramnauth made 36 off 50 balls (4x4s).
Bramble and 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.