Senior Inter-County cricket returned to the Enmore Community Centre Cricket Ground after 10 years and the fans were served a diet of spin as 19 wickets tumbled on day one of the Four-Day match between Berbice and Essequibo.
Essequibo reached stumps 156-9 from 49 overs after they bundled Berbice for 94 in 38.4 overs.
Left-arm spinners Ricardo Adams and Nigel Deodat were outstanding as both bagged five-wicket hauls.
Adams was a thorn in Berbice with 5-25 from 14 overs while Deodat got 5-42 from his 14 overs.
Seam-bowling all-rounder Quentin Sampson supported Adams with 3-12 from 5.4 overs while Garfield Phillips (1-15) and impressive pacer Neiland Codogan (1-27) were also among the wickets.
Shamar Angel (34) top-scored for Berbice while Seon Hetmyer, older brother of Shimron Hetmyer, got 18.
Deodat (15) and skipper Junior Sinclair (10) were the other men to reach double figures.
Essequibo’s batsmen also got starts and failed to progress as Ronaldo Renee top-scored with 38 followed by Sampson with 35 while Adams made 23.
Supporting Deodat at the other end was Hetmyer (1-14), Suresh Dhanai (1-20), Keyon Sinclair (1-23), and Gaurav Ramesh (1-50).
The lads from the Cinderella County currently hold a 62-run lead heading into the second day’s play scheduled to commence at 09:30h.
