J'ca Snaps Guyana Win Streak

Thu, Sep 4, '03

Team Guyana's unbeaten run into the Ed Ahmad New York Caribbean Cricket Cup competition came to a screeching halt at the hands of a rejuvenated Team Jamaica.

In the most recent round of the tournament, Guyana faced off against Jamaica at Idlewild Park in Rosedale, Queens and the showdown between arguably two of the strongest teams in the tournament lived up to expectation despite the absence of Jamaicans Dave Wallace and Rohan Alexander.

Jamaica won the toss and elected to bat, racking up 229 for seven off the allotted 50 overs. The opening pair of Orlando Baker and Richard Staple gave Team Jamaica a solid start of 81, before Staple was bowled by Sunil Dhaniram for 48. His knock included eight 4s. Orlando Baker, who seemed set to pluck a century off the Guyanese bowlers, was in command until he fell to pacer Darlington for 82.

With the exception of Barrington Bartley's knock of 57, the other Jamaican batsmen who saw action did not put up much of a fight. Jamaica?s wickets fell at: 81; 89; 135; 198; 205; 227 and 229.

Bowling for Guyana, leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo grabbed 4 for 31 off his 10 overs while Sunil Dhaniram took 2 for 27 off 10 overs.

Chasing 230 for victory, Guyana lost their first wicket at 30, with Melroy Kingston being caught behind off the bowling of Baker for 14. Marlon Kallicharran, coming off of a disappointing knock against Team TnT the previous weekend, made a hearty 45, including five 4s before falling to Barrington Bartley.

Hemchand Hardeo was run out for 22 while Steve Massiah who replaced Derrick Kallicharran, suspended for two weeks for poor conduct, was brilliantly caught by Jamaica's captain Richard Staple. Massiah's contribution was 24 in his 55 minutes in the middle. It was Sunil Dhaniram with a defiant 48 that brought some respectability to the Guyanese score.

Homchand Pooran, 14, and Mahendra Nagamootoo, 16, displayed some grit at the end, but alas in a losing cause, as Guyana was only able to reach 215 all out off of 48.5 overs. In the end, the chemistry of the earlier Guyana teams seemed absent, as the batsmen who could have brought it home for Guyana took some ill-advised shots in their attempt to race to a victory.

Windwards Turn up the Volume

Team Windward Islands, led by Kester Sylvester, staked its claim for the championship round with a sound thrashing of Team Trinidad & Tobago at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. The Grenada-born Kester Sylvester, one of three Sylvester brothers in the tournament (Kester, Angelo and John) slammed a brilliant 130 to lead the way.

Sylvester's ton (his second of the tournament), included five 6s and twelve 4s. In the only other match he has played, against the Leewards, Sylvester scored a sizzling 105.

Angelo Sylvester and his brother Kester opened the Windwards batting against Trinidad & Tobago, with Angelo contributing 56; as Windwards raced to 272 for 5 off their allotted 45 overs, due to a late start. Windwards' wickets fell at 144; 203; 235; 262 and 272.

Bowling for Trinidad & Tobago: R. Emritt 9-0-35-2 and G. Lorrick 5-0-42-2 were the scalpers.

Team TnT in response, managed 204 all out off 37.3 overs for their second defeat of the tournament. Batting at number 4, Dennis Rampersaud's 77 was the only knock of value. Captain David Mohammed's 23 and Jimmy Mahraj (14 not out) did offer some resistance but it was not enough as Team T&T's wickets fell at 38, 41, 97, 147, 148, 150, 155, 166, 167 and 204.

Kester Sylvester also had a brilliant game with the ball, picking up three for 29 off nine overs. Also grabbing wickets for the Windwards were L. Peters 9-1-38-2, and K. George 3.3-0-39-2.

Windward Islands, with the win over T&T are now tied with Guyana and Jamaica with three victories and 12 points each. The fourth runner-up being Trinidad & Tobago with 8 points.

Leeward Islands Tunes Out?

It is expected that Team Leeward Islands will be fined US$200 for not fielding a team against Barbados in their last scheduled game. From reports circulating the cricket scene, it appears that Team Leeward Islands may have opted out of the competition, because of the unavailability of players, as well as having seen the writing on the wall, having scored zero points so far, in the tournament.

Team Barbados, despite earning a walk-over from Team Leeward Islands, is mathematically out of the final four, having only secured 4 points in the tournament.

The semi-final games are scheduled for Saturday, September 6 at Idlewild Park, Rosedale, Queens, where the number four seed will challenge the number one seed. The other semi-final game will see the number two seed facing off against the number three seed at Canarsie Park, Brooklyn.

The championship game is slated for Saturday, September 13 at Idlewild Park, 223rd Street and 147th Avenue in Rosedale, Queens.