U-17: Mohabir and Dindyal shine as Demerara thump Berbice

The lads of Demerara have moved one step closer to retaining their Inter-County Under-17 title after they comprehensively defeated Berbice by eight wickets in the second round of the Bel Air Rubis Inter-County 50-over tournament at Everest on Thursday.

Star of the show with ball was Alvin Mohabir, as his off-spin accounted for 5-19 in 10 overs, which bundled out Berbice for 108 in 41.3 overs.

Batsmen Mavindra Dindyal and Jaden Campbell then produced an unbroken 82-run partnership for the third wicket to seal victory in 21.5 overs. West Indies U-15 batsman Dindyal struck 50, while Campbell supported with 42.

The duo came to the crease at 29-2 in 7.3 overs when lunch was taken. Upon resumption, both right-handers produced some well-timed shots against both the spinners and pacers.

There was one over where West Indies U-15 pacer Isai Thorne tested Dindyal with some short-pitched bowling, but he withstood the barrage and played a cracking pull through midwicket for one of his eight fours to go along with a solitary six in the 52 balls faced.

Campbell, who has already played national U-15 cricket, looked fluent on the drive and was quick to cut at anything fractionally short. His lone six came when deposited Jeremy Sandia to the Carifesta Road end; he also struck six fours in his 48-ball innings.

When Berbice took first strike, they quickly lost the in-form Mahendra Gopilall for five, Mahendra Ramcharitar for six and in-form skipper Zeynul Ramsammy failed to add any score.

Opener Hemchand Gurdyal led the way with 34 (4x4s), while Leon Cecil scored 25 and the ever impressive Jonathan Rampersaud 20.

Seamer Romel Datterdeen took 3-18, while there was wicket each for Chanderpaul Ramraj (1-15) and Krisna Singh (1-22).

The final round of the three-round tournament will be played on Saturday with Demerara facing Essequibo at Georgetown Cricket Club and Berbice battling the Select National U-15 side at Everest; both matches will start at 09:30h.