Opener Brandon Jaikaran stroked a magnificent 400 not out, an innings that spanned 231 deliveries and included 55 fours and 12 sixes for Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) against a depleted Diplomats team in the Georgetown Cricket Association Second-Division tournament on Sunday last.
Jaikaran’s knock and centuries from 12-year-old Lomar Seecharan and Inderjit Nanan powered DCC to 666-3 declared. Diplomats made 48-7 and 50-8 in their two innings to lose by an innings and 568 runs.
The 21-year-old indicated that reaching the iconic score in competitive cricket was surreal. Jaikaran’s majestic effort is considered a record for competitive cricket in Guyana.
“It is a surreal feeling; it still has not sunk in as yet, and it shows that all of my hard work is paying off, and I am just happy right now,” the lanky left-hander expressed in an interview with News Room Sport.
After ending day one on 185, he said his parents urged him to go on and score 200.
Noting that his ultimate goal in the game is not personal landmarks but team success, Jaikaran said he started to believe he could achieve the phenomenal feat when he was around the 360 mark.
In the morning, he indicated coach Darien Best, who has been making waves in developing young cricketers in Georgetown, told him he had 90 minutes to bat, as the team still wanted to secure an outright victory in the Two-Day encounter.
A former student of Queen’s College, Jaikaran was invited to train with the Guyana Harpy Eagles as one of their developmental players last year and even participated in the trials for the Four-Day team this year.
Having not represented Guyana at any level during his age-group year, he said the experience of training with the senior team and now this achievement have strengthened his belief that dreams do come true.
The young man’s feat eclipsed the record of Khalid Rohomon, who held the previous highest individual score in any organised competitive cricket in Guyana, making 319 for East Indian Cricket Club (now Everest Cricket Club) against Georgetown Cricket Club in a First-Division match at Bourda in July 1936.
Jaikaran also praised his teammate Seecharan for possibly creating a record as the youngest person to score a Second-Division hundred in Guyana, or at least Georgetown.
Meanwhile, the club’s executives expressed heartful congratulations to Jaikaran and the other centurions who made history.
“Young Jaikaran has been a hard worker over the years, and it is a great joy to see him achieve such a phenomenal feat in cricket. The ‘Home of the Legends’ is always committed to ensuring we invest in your young talents, which is evident in the progress of budding prospect Lomar Seecharan. A special mention must be given to the hard work of the coaches and other support staff,” a club executive indicated.
