By Avenash Ramzan
Berbice defeated Demerara by seven wickets in a rain-affected final round of the Guyana Cricket Board’s Female Inter-County 50-over competition on Tuesday at the Malteenoes Sports Club ground to emerge overall champions.
In a match reduced to 37 overs due to overnight and early morning showers, Berbice dismissed Demerara for just 76 in 29 overs with West Indies off-spinner Ashmini Munisar taking 3-16 off six overs.
Berbice, in reply, coasted to victory at 77-3 in exactly 14 overs.
The 20-year-old Munisar sent down 26 dot balls in her miserly spell to complement her impressive figures of 7-4-7-2 in the previous game against Essequibo.
The experienced off-spinner Plaffiana Millington backed up her 3-11 in the last match with outstanding returns of 5-1-7-2, while seamer Trisha Hardat and off-spinner Sheneta Grimmond picked up 2-14 apiece.
Hardat had copped the Player-of-the-Match award against Essequibo with figures of 3-5.
Opener Naomi Barkoye topscored for Demerara with 24 off 67 (1×4, 1×6), while Nya Latchman made 16* off 20 and opener Mandy Mangru 12 off 32 (1×4).
West Indies player Shabika Gajnabi then led the run-chase with an unbeaten 24 off 31 (2x4s), while opener Realanna Grimmond scored a run-a-ball 18 (4x4s).
Left-arm spinner Kaysia Schultz (1-15), off-spinner Latisha Jordon (1-20) and leg-spinner Latchman (1-23) were the wicket-takers for Demerara.
It was Berbice’s second victory of the competition after prevailing by four wickets over Essequibo, while Demerara had thrashed Essequibo by 185 runs in the first round.
What they said
Berbice captain Shemaine Campbelle: “I want to say congrats to the girls, I think they played good cricket. All in all, I think it was a good outing for Berbice today. We need more cricket for these girls. Even two-day cricket can help these girls to improve their game.”
Player-of-the-Match Ashmini Munisar: “It feels really good (to perform in a big match). Coming into a final it feels really great to contribute to a good all-round team performance. Being a part of the senior team and working with the legends of the game and the better players of the game, I’ve learnt quite a lot. I’ve also been working with my coaches at home and we’ve been working on consistency.”
Demerara opener Mandy Mangru: “I think we lost it in the batting to be honest. We had a collapse and we never recovered from that and it was too much for the bowlers to come and do at the backend.”
Summarised scores from the three rounds
Round One: Demerara defeated Essequibo by 185 runs at Malteenoes
SUMMARY: Demerara Women 273 all out from 41.5 overs (Mandy Mangru 81, Cherry-Ann Fraser 68, Naomi Barker 27, Extras 60; Yonette Welcome 3-48, Nikesha Narine 2-65) vs Essequibo 88 all out from 22 overs (Lavina Ragobeer 21, Analesia D’Aguiar 16, Extras 31; Latisha Jordon 4-16, Nya Latchman 4-25)
Round Two: Berbice defeated Essequibo by four wickets at Meten-Meer-Zorg
SUMMARY: Essequibo 64 all out from 27.2 overs (Cyanna Retemiah 12, Latoya Williams 12; Trisha Hardat 3-5, Plaffiana Millington 3-11, Ashmini Munisar 2-7) vs Berbice 65-6 from 12.1 overs (Sheneta Grimmond 16, Ashmini Munisar 16, Tia Isaacs 11*; Cyanna Retemiah 2-28, Yonette Welcome 1-6, Kumarie Persaud 1-28)
Round Three: Berbice defeated Demerara by seven wickets at Malteenoes
SUMMARY: Demerara 76 all out from 29 overs (Naomi Barkoye 24, Nya Latchman 16*, Mandy Mangru 12; Ashmini Munisar 3-16, Plaffiana Millington 2-7, Trisha Hardat 2-14, Sheneta Grimmond 2-14) vs Berbice 77-3 from 14 overs (Shabika Gajnabi 24*, Realeanna Grimmond 18, Crystal Durant 11; Kaysia Shultz 1-15, Latisha Jordon 1-20, Nya Latchman 1-23)
Leading runscorers
Mandy Mangru (Demerara)- 93 runs, highest score 81, average 46.5
Cherry-Ann Fraser (Demerara)- 69 runs, highest score 68, average 34.5
Naomi Barkoye (Demerara)- 51 runs, highest score 27, average 25.5
Nya Latchman (Demerara)- 26 runs, highest score 16*, average 26
Shabika Gajnabi (Berbice)- 25 runs, highest score 24*, average 25
Leading wicket-takers
Ashmini Munisar (Berbice)- 5 wickets, best 3-16, average 4.6
Plaffiana Millington (Berbice)- 5 wickets, best 3-11, average 3.6
Trisha Hardat (Berbice)- 5 wickets, best 3-5, average 3.8
Latisha Jordon (Demerara)- 5 wickets, best 4-16, average 7.2
Nya Latchman (Demerara)- 5 wickets, best 4-25, average 9.6
The players will now switch focus to the T20 segment, with all matches at Malteenoes starting at 13:30h.
February 15- Essequibo vs Berbice
February 16- Demerara vs Essequibo
February 17- Demerara vs Berbice
The Inter-County competition is being used to select the Guyana team to compete in the Cricket West Indies Regional Women’s tournament, set for St. Kitts in March.
