Berbice retain title after Fudadin’s unbeaten 105

Berbice comfortably retained their El Dorado 50-Over Inter-County title at the Albion Community Centre ground on September 25. Demerara had played unbeaten in the preliminary rounds before stumbling at the final hurdle.

An unblemished 105 from skipper Assad Fudadin helped Berbice coast to 237 in 42 overs despite a tentative start and loss of wickets at crucial periods, as they chased the 236 for nine made by Demerara in their complement of 50 overs.

Man-of-the-match Fudadin cracked a brilliant 105, a knock that contained ten fours from 110 deliveries.

Foo made a quick-fire 43 off just 39 balls, while Royston Crandon made a 31- ball unbeaten 32 that included four fours.

The Berbice innings started unsteadily after they lost the wickets of Richard Ramdeen and Narsingh Deonarine when the scores were 5 and 22 respectively.

Left-arm pacer Andre Stoll made the vital breakthrough with his first ball when he had Richard Ramdeen caught by Kellon Carmichael at mid- on off a short ball, in the innings’ second over.

Deonarine was caught by Johnson at backward point off fast bowler Paul Wintz, to sink Berbice to 22 for 2 in 6.3 overs.

Assad Fudadin and Devon Clements went about the rebuilding.

They were vigilant, yet they put away the bad balls. Fudadin was the more aggressive of the two batsmen, while Clements was content with playing second fiddle.

Fudadin smashed Kellon Carmichael for three consecutive fours in the 19th over to register his half- century from 52 deliveries, with six fours.

The Demerara captain employed several strategies to break the partnership, but the Berbice batsmen remained vigilant. The two pushed the team’s total to 101 before off-spinner Zaheer Mohamed bowled Clements behind his back for 26.

That brought in the flamboyant Jonathan Foo, who immediately made his intentions clear by carrying the attack to the Demerara bowlers with an array of scintillating strokes. He hit Johnson for the first of his five fours, then hoisted Mohamed for a six over long-on before shattering Paul Wintz for four fours in the 28th over.

Fudadin and Foo continued until the latter was stumped off Johnson for 43, when the score was 175.

Fudadin, on the other hand, grew in confidence.

He brought up his century in 104 balls, which included ten fours.

At that point, the game had shifted in favour of Berbice.

Fudadin and Royston Crandon ensured victory with eight overs to spare in an unbroken fifth wicket stand of 62.

Demerara pacers Paul Wintz and Andre Stoll had a wicket apiece; while spinners Zaheer Mohamed and Leon Johnson also claimed a wicket each.

Earlier, on a fast and very jarring outfield, Demerara, inserted by the opposition, had a temporary flurry at the start of the innings, adding 40 in 8.4 overs. But they lost Shemroy Barrington for 16, adjudged leg before to Assad Fudadin, who shared the new ball with Keon Joseph.

Skipper Leon Johnson and Trevon Griffith then rotated the strike admirably to emphasise their rich vein of form.

Both looked set to punish all the bowlers that came their way as the Demerara 100 came up in the 22nd over.

Johnson himself showed glimpses of a return to his best. There was maturity in his batting, a sign that he finally under stands his role as one of the more talented batsmen in the team. His batting showed purpose before poor communication with Griffith saw him run out for 45 (2×4, 1×6, 62 balls), but not before the two pushed the team’s total to 148 in the 31st over.

That dismissal brought in Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

The Berbice bowlers at this time seemed to have lacked penetration on the slow wicket. Then Steven Latcha bowled Trevon Griffith for 78 to leave Demerara on 148 for three. Griffith’s innings lasted for 88 deliveries and included six fours.

Another partnership between Vishal Singh and Chanderpaul looked promising, but was broken; and things went into a downward spiral after that. Chanderpaul, the most capped West Indies cricketer (133 Tests), was smartly ‘caught and bowled’ off Krishendat Ramoo for seven, at 167 for four. Gajanand Singh (14) followed shortly, pulling a short ball from Krishendat Ramoo to the diving Foo on the mid- wicket boundary, as the Berbicians started to assert themselves in the field after earlier sloppy fielding.

Zaheer Mohamed launched a vicious attack on Ramoo, hitting him for a four and a massive six in the 45th over, before Royston Crandon removed both Mohamed (19) and Paul Wintz (01) in the 48th over. Both batsmen were caught off wicketkeeper Anthony Bramble.

Narsingh Deonarine accounted for Vishal Singh (37) and Kellon Carmichael (02) in the 49th over.

Joseph Perry and Andre Stoll were left unbeaten on two and three respectively.

Narsingh Deonarine had 2-30, Krishendat Ramoo 2-55, Royston Crandon 2-49; while Assad Fudadin had 1-31 and Steven Latcha 1-49.

Fudadin was adjudged Player of the Series.