Wilkinson guides Demerara to U-17 50-Over title

A brisk half-century from Vikash Wilkinson gave Demerara the edge as they got the better of Berbice by five wickets during their Under-17 Inter-county final at Everest Cricket Club Ground on Thursday.

Berbice made 214 after opener Rampersaud Ramnauth led with a classy 66 with six fours and a maximum.

His partner, Kevin Kisten scored 38 as the openers shared a 59-run stand.

Romesh Bharat (37) and captain Matthew Pottaya (18) were the next best contributors as Demerara bowlers, Shane Prince (2-31), Alex Datterdeen (2-28) and Neeran Bani (2-30) kept their team in the game throughout their spells.

Demerara then launched a vicious counterattack, led by Vikash Wilkinson, the In-form opener, who slammed 84 off 82 with 11 fours and three sixes.

Nicholas Shioprasad was run out for 46 (5x4s) as kipper Johnathan Van Lange (26), and Sachin Balgobin (22) took to see Demerara over the line.

Berbice bowlers toiled as four bowlers, including Pottaya, Raj Tika, Justin Doobay, and Salim Khan, could only snap up a wicket each in their team’s loss.

At the presentation ceremony, Van Lange was awarded the most runs with 186 runs, Matthew Pottoya had the most wickets (seven) while Wilkinson earned the MVP trophy with a total of 168 runs and sox dismissals with the gloves.