Strikers Demolish Suburbia To Maintain Points Lead

By Orin Davidson
Strikers is continuing to light up the Metropolitan League with another vintage performance while stabilizing their lead on the points table of the Clement `Buster’ Lawrence Premier League 40 overs a side competition.

In brushing aside Suburbia Sports Club, recently at Whitestone ground, Strikers climbed to 63 points from nine wins and one loss to stay as favorites to capture this year’s title.

Arch rivals Villagers is in second place with 55 points from an 8-1 record with Westbury third on 52 points from their 8-2 record.

Like in most of their performances this year, Strikers batsmen led the way by powering the side to an emphatic 251-run victory over beleaguered Suburbia. Again it was Richard Ramdeen, the former Guyanese batsman who capitalized on demoralized opponents to amass a whopping 170 runs not out to spearhead his team to a mammoth 289 runs for three wickets from 24.4 overs

In reply Suburbia could only muster 38 runs for nine wickets to fall to probably the biggest margin of defeat in the competition this season.

Ramdeen was at his brutal best, striking 15 sixes and eight fours for a stunning strike rate of 215.19. He had exemplary support from Andre Bryce who slammed a quickfire 70 from 46 balls which included seven fours and one six. He had a strike rate of 152.7.

Shiv Sangalemaa put up Strikers’s next best score of 12 from 13 balls, opening the batting with Ramdeen.

Guyana allrounder Chris Barnwell contributed 10 while extras put up a healthy 27 inclusive of 18 no-balls. Another ex-Guyana player medium pacer Paul Wintz was nought not out while Keon Lake, Rahat Rahaman Khan, Pinak Ghous and Vishal Singh did not bat.

Opening bowler Habibur Rahman was Suburbia’s best, ending with two wickets for 36 runs for an economy rate of 6.00 from his allotted six overs.

Cuthbert Mendonca claimed 1-30 for an economy rate of 5.00.

Khan then turned the screws with the ball in a scintillating spell for Strikers to lock up the victory by bagging four wickets for 10 runs to send Suburbia crashing to their meagre score.

He took out all four of the top order batsmen, removing Romel Jagdeo for two, Rohan Knight 8, Rohan Burrell 0, and Mendonca for 1. Knight’s eight was the topscore for Suburbia and it was left to extras which included eight no-balls for a grand total of 16, to make the score less embarrassing.

Khan ended with an economy rate of 1.67 while Ghosh took 2-10 while dismissing Saiful Islam and Said Hasan to post an economy rate of 2.50.

So far Strikers has defeated Punjab CC, Island Wide CC, Spice Island CC, Atlantis CC, Lucas CC, Westbury CC, Sheffield CC and Panthers CC.

Their clash with Queens United scheduled for last Sunday was not played while their lone defeat was to Villagers. They have a game in hand with 11 played to Villagers’s 10 so far.

Queens United with 45 points are fourth while Sheffield 40, Atlantis 37, US CC 28, Panthers 26, Punjab, 23, Lucas 21, Spice Island 9, Suburbia 7and Island Wide 0 take up the remaining positions on the table.