By Avenash Ramzan
The veteran pair of Eon Abel and Seemangal Yadram rolled back the years on Wednesday, putting on a masterful batting display to lead Enmore Over-40 to a crushing seven-wicket win over Guyana Overseas Cricket Club (GOCC), an England-based team.
Playing at the Enmore Community Centre ground, GOCC opted to bat first in the scorching midday heat. They managed to bat out the allotted 30 overs, but could only gather 96 runs for the loss of six wickets.
Former national wicketkeeper/batsman, Shiek Mohamed, who played a guest player for GOCC, led all scorers with a solid 30 (2x4s), while Navin Persaud chipped in with 18. Spinners Chatterpaul Singh and Deonarine Mangal picked up two wickets each.
In reply, Enmore Over-40 recovered from an early wobble when left-arm spinner Devon Lord claimed three wickets to reduce the home team to 26-3 in the seventh over.
Lord removed Mohammed Ashraf and Shameer Shahib off the first two balls of the innings, bowled and stumped respectively, and then followed up with clean bowling Mustaf Shaw for six.
Opener Eon Abel held the innings together and found a willing partner in Seemangal Yadram, as they added an unbroken fourth wicket partnership of 71 in just six overs to seal the win in 13.3 overs.
The right-handed Abel, who was later named Man-of-the-Match, made an unbeaten 48 off 38 balls, including four fours and a six, while the left-handed Yadram stroked a 22-ball 34 with five fours. Lord ended with 3-31 from his quota of six overs.
After the game, Rabi Sukul of the visiting delegation thanked the Enmore Community Centre Cricket Club for the excellent hospitality. He said the GOCC will be visiting again, and on their schedule would be a game against Enmore.
That offer was accepted by executives of the Enmore Community Centre Cricket Club, who said they are more than willing to once again host the foreigners.
The GOCC tour will conclude this weekend with games against Everest on Friday and Georgetown Cricket Club on Sunday.
Cover photo caption: Eon Abel (left) and Seemangal Yadram (Photos: Avenash Ramzan)
