By Avenash Ramzan
If you were perambulating in the Queenstown area in the vicinity of the Demerara Cricket Club on Saturday afternoon, it would have been wise to wear a helmet or some sort of protective equipment.
No, it wasn’t a combat zone or invasion by any unruly bunch, if that’s what comes to mind!
It was Christopher Barnwell doing Christopher Barnwell things!
And this time he had company…Barnwell’s utter disregard for the West Demerara Jaguars bowlers was superbly complemented by the class and finesse of Raymond Perez, a young man currently at the peak of his powers.
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The two right-handers- one a seasoned campaigner, the other on the verge of a senior national debut- pulverized the Jaguars bowlers in a brutal display of T20 batting in the final of the Demerara Cricket Board’s Inter-Association T20 competition, sponsored by SVC/Precision Service Inc.
After the early loss of Shemroy Barrington to spinner Aryan Persaud for five off the second ball of the third over, Barnwell and Perez batted out the remaining 17.4 overs, treating a vociferous band of Georgetown Panthers supporters to one of the most brutal attacks on a white cricket ball.
Barnwell, batting with his personally branded CB90 bat, slammed 11 fours and 13 sixes, some of which landed on the roof of nearby houses and threateningly close to vehicles parked around the venue.
It is widely known that you park at your own risk around DCC during a cricket match, and Barnwell sent another reminder of the perils that come with that bravery.
In a tremendous display of power-hitting, the former West Indies T20I batsman fused brute force with immaculate timing in an unbeaten 155 off just 65 balls.
Not often does an unbeaten 76 off 46 balls (4x4s, 5x6s) play second fiddle in T20 cricket, but that’s exactly what Perez was content on doing, as the Panthers racked up an imposing 240-1.
The communication between the two was a thing of beauty- when the boundary balls were not on offer early, they ran hard between the wickets and limited the number of dot balls.
Once they got in though, the ball boys had a busy afternoon retrieving balls from the nearby yards, and when they- the ball boys- could not do it by foot, it required the use of a bicycle.
They were especially busy in the 19th over bowled by spinner Navindra Persaud, who was smashed for five sixes by Barnwell, catapulting him from 114 off 55 to 144 off 61.
Barnwell brought up his 150 with another maximum in the final over, playing the protagonist in an unbroken partnership of 233. It was Barnwell’s 16th ton in domestic T20 cricket.
Starting a T20 run chase a tad over 12 runs an over is always an uphill task, but Jaguars did well to bat out the full quota of overs, ending on 156-9 on a good batting turf.
That the margin of defeat was 84 runs shows the magnitude of the Barnwell-Perez show in a match that yielded a mammoth 396 runs.
Mahendra Dhanpaul topscored with an unbeaten 47 off 39 (2x4s, 4x6s) and opener Urshadeva Balgobin struck 39 off 25 (5x4s, 1×6).
Dwain Dick (2-20), Steven Sankar (2-23) and Devon Lord (2-31) were the main wicket-takers for the Panthers.
Eagles outplay Canje Pheasants in third place playoff
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In the third place game, East Bank Eagles defeated East Coast Canje Pheasants by six wickets.
Led by an unbeaten 60 off 48 (6x4s, 2x6s) from Vishwanauth Ramlakhan, Canje Pheasants recovered from 44-5 to post 143-7.
Wicketkeeper/batsman Ramlakhan and Nizam Khan, who made 28 off 18, repaired the innings with a partnership of 44, before Ramlakhan and Richard Dowlatram put together 55 for the seventh wicket.
Dowlatram’s contribution was 14 off nine as Canje Pheasants racked up 99-2 off the last 10 overs.
Leon Swamy and Rickey Sargeant took two wickets each for Eagles, who responded with 148-4 from 17.3 overs.
Opener Quazim Yusuf made 41 not out off 49 balls (4x4s, 1×6), Alex Algoo a quickfire 35 off 15 (3x4s, 3x6s) and Jeremiah Scott 23 off 17 (3x4s, 1×6). Dowlatram took two wickets for Canje Pheasants.
Awards
Champions– Georgetown Panthers (G$200,000, trophy and medals)
Runners-up– West Demerara Jaguars (G$100,000, trophy and medals)
Third place– East Bank Eagles (G$50,000 and trophy)
Fourth place– East Coast Canje Pheasants (G$25,000 and trophy)
Top performers of preliminary matches
Most runs– Raymond Perez of Georgetown Panthers (178)
Most wickets– Ronaldo Alimohamed of Georgetown Panthers (13)
Highest individual score– Rickey Sargeant of East Bank Eagles (75)
Best bowling performance– Ronaldo Alimohamed of Georgetown Panthers (7-5)
Fielder with the most catches– Sheldon Alexander of West Demerara Jaguars (7)
Wicketkeeper with the most dismissals– Brandon Jaikarran of Georgetown Panthers (4)
Best emerging Under-19 player– Romeo Deonarain of Upper Demerara Scorpions (86 runs, highest score 31, average 86)
Final and third place
Player-of-the-Match (Third place game)– Vishwanauth Ramlakhan of East Coast Canje Pheasants (60*)
Player-of-the-Match (Final)– Christopher Barnwell of Georgetown Panthers (155*)
Best Bowling performance in the final– Dwain Dick of Georgetown Panthers (2-20)
Best Batting performance in the final– Christopher Barnwell of Georgetown Panthers (155*)
Best fielder in the final– Ronaldo Alimohamed of Georgetown Panthers
Tournament MVP– Raymond Perez of Georgetown Panthers (277 runs)
Special Recognition
Nadir ‘Gas’ Baksh (Umpire)
Stephon Josiah (Umpire)
Nandkumar Shivsankar (Umpire)
Moses Ramnarine (Match Referee)
