International all-rounder Kevin Sinclair claimed seven wickets for 15 runs, as Berbice pulled off a heist against Demerara in the first round of the senior inter-county 50-over tournament. In the match played at Blairmont, Berbice won by 27 runs, after scoring 132 all out. Sinclair’s stunning 7-15 from 9.5 overs helped restricted Demerara to 105 all out in 25.5 overs.
Fresh of his CPL title win, all-rounder Romario Shepherd was the lone significant scorer with 26 off 42 balls, hitting four boundaries for Berice.
The Demerara fast-bowlers thrived as former Windies U19 pacer Qumar Torrington (2-22) and T20 star Sherfane Rutherford (2-18) ran through the top-order. The void was enough for Steven Sankar who was the difference, snagging 3-22 with his leg-spin.
A wicket each from the slow-bowling pair of Akshaya Persaud (1-16) and Richie Looknauth (1-9) provided extra proficiency for Demerara.
Berbice struggled at 90-5 at one point, following the assault from the pacers, which left much work to do for the middle-order.
West Indies all-rounder Sinclair hit one 4 and a 6 in his score of 19, opening the batting but lost his partner Rampertab Ramnauth (0) and Guyana Amazon Warriors batsman, Kevlon Anderson (7) in a short space of time.
Seon Hetmyer (18), older brother of the dynamic Shimron Hetmyer, Seon Glasgow (15), Pestano (10) and Motie (11) propelled Berbice to a decent enough total with their contributions.
Sinclair then single-handedly bowled his team to victory, snagging 7-15 from 9.5 overs. The off-spinner was on show from the introduction, wreaking havoc during his opening spell, knocking over West Indies Test opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul for 1.
Mathew Nandu (21), Akshaya Persaud (00) Looknauth, Rutherford(6), Ronaldo Alimohamed (4) and Bernard Bailey (6) all succumbed to the guile and class of the Right-arm spinner.
Top-scorer for Demerara, Looknauth hit 7 fours in his defiant knock of 36 while his captain Tevin Imlach was unfortunately run out for (4), further adding to the downward spiral of their side.
Amazon Warriors breakout pacer Shamar Joseph grabbed 1-18 alongside the veteran, skipper Veerasammy Permaul who had figures of 1-12.
The second match of Round one continues today, Sunday October 1 with the GCB Select XI taking on the boys the from Cinderella County, Essequibo from 9:00h at the Bourda Cricket Club Ground. (Modified GCB release)