By Avenash Ramzan
Georgetown Panthers and West Demerara Jaguars will clash in the final of the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB)/SVC/Precision Service Centre Inc. Inter-Association T20 final, following commanding wins in the semi-finals on Sunday.
Playing at the picturesque Meten-Meer-Zorg ground, West Coast Demerara, the unbeaten Panthers trounced East Bank Eagles by 69 runs, while Jaguars inflicted a nine-wicket defeat on East Coast Canje Pheasants.
The grand final is set for the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground, Bourda, from 13:00h on Saturday (January 20). The third place playoff between Eagles and Canje Pheasants will take place from 09:00h.
Dick stars in Panthers’ success
In semi-final one, Eagles did well to restrict the rampant Panthers for 133 from 18.2 overs and were sensing a massive upset.
However, they were confronted by off-spinner Dwain Dick, who claimed a hat-trick that played a pivotal role in Eagles being dismissed for a meagre 64 from 13.2 overs.
Dick dismissed opener Quazim Yusuf without scoring off the fourth ball of the match, and then removed Eagles’ leading runscorer Rickey Sargeant and young Shamar Yearwood off consecutive deliveries to make it 34-3 at the end of the fifth over.
It soon became 35-6 and Dick made it 57-9 when he struck off the first ball of his last over to complete a hat-trick.
The Player-of-the-Match finished with 4-23 off four overs, while Christopher Barnwell took 2-1 off one over and leg-spinner Steven Sankar ended with 2-9 off 2.2 overs.
Sargeant topscored with 28 off 14 (2x4s, 3x6s), with Sagar Hatiramani being the other batsman to get to double-figures with 16 off 14 (1×4, 1×6).
Earlier, Panthers, with four wins from as many games in the preliminary stage of the competition, slipped from a solid position of 46-1 in the sixth over, losing wickets at regular interval during the middle and death overs.
Buddan Baksh produced a splendid spell of 4-29 off four overs to lead Eagles bowling effort, with support from skipper Anand Barrat (2-24) and Leon Swamy (2-31).
Former First-Class opener Shemroy Barrington topscored with 25 off 18 (2x4s, 2x6s), fellow opener and the competition’s leading runscorer Raymond Perez made 23 off 20 (1×4, 1×6), national youth player Jonathan Van Lange scored 20 off 23 (1×6) and Barnwell chipped in with 19 off 17 (1×4, 1×6).
Balgobin bludgeons East Coast
Wicketkeeper/batsman Ushadeva Balgobin lit up the venue with some brutal hitting, leading Jaguars to an easy nine-wicket win over Canje Pheasants in semi-final two.
Set a meagre target of 90, Jaguars raced to victory in 8.5 overs, with the left-handed Balgobin bludgeoning the bowlers to all parts of the ground.
He struck seven sixes and four fours in an unbeaten 65 off 24 balls, dominating an opening stand of 47 in five overs with Navindra Persaud, who made 16 off 18 (1×6).
Skipper Akshaya Persaud completed the formalities with a six in his unbeaten 14 off 11 (2x6s). Left-arm spinner Chandrapaul Hemraj took 1-23 off three overs.
Canje Pheasants never recovered from losing their premier batsmen Hemraj (9 off 10) and skipper Rajendra Chandrika (8 off 15) cheaply.
It took an innings of 26 off 18 (3x4s, 1×6) from Vishwanauth Ramlakhan and 18 off 16 (3x4s) from Vivian Albert to shore up Canje Pheasants, who were dismissed for 89 in 18 overs.
Such was the accuracy of the bowling that Canje Pheasants faced as many as 66 dot balls. Spinner Narendra Persaud picked up 3-10 off his four overs, one of which was a maiden.
Left-arm spinner Aryan Persaud was outstanding with 2-13 off four, while Navindra Persaud, Richie Looknauth, Jamal Gomes and Nkosi Major picked up a wicket each.
Balgobin picked up the Player-of-the-Match trophy.
