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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday September 20, 2014
Champions League T20
Williamson ton crushes Cobras IN MOST Twenty20 matches, the brevity of the format allows teams a chance to mount a comeback even if the scorecard makes for grim reading. (Scores: Northern Knights 206 for 5 (Williamson 101*, Devcich 67) beat Cobras 44 for 2 by 33 runs (D/L method). This did not seem like one of those matches. Kane Williamson showed off his increasing proficiency in the format with a maiden T20 century to lead Northern Knights to their highest score, and Trent Boult and Tim Southee underlined their customary threat with the new ball to leave Cobras on the mat. By the time the rain came down in the eighth over of the chase, the asking rate was nearing 13 and saved Cobras from what was shaping to be an hour of minimising the margin of defeat. At the start of the year, Williamson was not seen as someone who could play Twenty20s. Everything about him seemed old-school, from the manner in which he batted - lacking the glamorous mega hits the fans and the format love - to the way in which he celebrated his centuries with a mild wave of the bat.
He hadn’t played a single game in the format in all of 2013. In 2014, though, he has been immense in Twenty20s, averaging over 40, striking at 137, and almost doubling his aggregate in the format. In Raipur, he showed how versatile his game is. His first 15 runs all came behind the wicket as he used the pace of the bowlers. He picked off four successive twos in the fourth over, nudging the ball in the gaps and running hard, to signal a shift in momentum after a tight start from Cobras bowlers. There had been plenty of close calls for both him and opening partner Anton Devcich early on: in the first over itself, there was a mix-up and Williamson was nearly run-out; in the second, there was an unintentional four for him to third man as he was late in leaving the ball; in the third, Devcich just beat the throw from point; in the fourth, a Williamson top edge flew for six over fine leg; in the fifth, Devcich was reprieved at short fine leg by Justin Kemp, who hurt his hand attempting a low catch. Williamson and Devcich capitalised on that fortune to build a 140-run stand at more than 10 an over. Williamson was superb at placing the
ball behind the stumps, and used the inside-out chip to good effect, while Devcich unveiled a series of sweeps and reverse-sweeps. The acceleration came in the middle of the innings, with 74 runs arriving in a five-over spell - there was also a 37ball sequence in which there was only one dot delivery. The next scoreless ball was in the 14th over when Devcich was run-out. Daniel Flynn followed for a duck, but BJ Watling kept the frenetic pace up with a 20-ball cameo in which he feasted on Kemp. Williamson was muscling the ball around by this stage, including a powerful hit to cow corner for six off Rory Kleinveldt. Charl Langeveldt, who hasn’t played a competitive
Eighth annual `Ride for Life’ cycle road race billed for October 16-19 By Michael DaSilva
Kane Williamson struck 101 to help Northern Knights crush Cape Cobras in a rain-hit game in Raipur.
ECCB/H. Nauth and Sons T20 Tournament
Action bowls off tomorrow THE EAST Coast Cricket Board (ECCB) will tomorrow bowl off a T20 competition for teams within its constituent, thanks to the kind sponsorship of H. Nauth and Sons Civil Engineering Contractors and Petrol Station. The tournament will be played strictly in accordance with T20 rules and regulations of the ECCB and will be done on a knock-out basis, with the preliminary rounds being played with red balls and white uniforms while the final will be played with white balls and coloured uniforms. Two matches will be played on each ground with one starting at 10:00hrs and ending at 13:00hrs, while the second will commence
ar 13:30hrs and conclude at 16:30hrs. Clubs fielding two teams are not allowed to inter-change players and each club must declare to the ECCB Competitions Committee (ECCBCC) on or before tomorrow, a list of 14 players who will be representing the club. The finalist with the highest run rate in the preliminary rounds will be hosting the final which carries a winners’ purse of $150 000 and a trophy and clubs who desire further information, can contact Chairman of the Competitions Committee Raymond Barton via telephone numbers 2201636, 626-0223. Meanwhile, the ECCB in a press release stated that the fixtures were done
game in nearly a year, delivered several yorkers to stifle the runs and for a brief while it seemed as though Williamson might struggle to reach his hundred. He got there in grand style, though, with a stunning shot that sailed over cover for six even though he was flopping over towards the leg side. That also took Knights beyond 200, to a score that looked beyond Cobras’ reach. A full-strength Cobras line-up would have had Dale Steyn, Sunil Narine and the Ram Slam’s most successive bowler, Beuran Hendricks. Instead, severely-weakened Cobras were taken apart by a team that had already played three matches at the same venue. (ESPN Cricinfo)
and witnessed by several clubs last Sunday and are as follows: Upper East Coast Zone - Mahaica Sports Club vs Perseverance at Helena 1-2 Ground at 10:00Hrs, umpires are Mukesh Persaud and Guyanand Sukou and Helena 1-2 versus Unity at Helena 1-2 Ground from 13:30hrs with the same umpires officiating. Charles Gibbons and Cyril Singh are the two officials in charge of proceedings at Strathavon, wherein Dundee will oppose Bravados in game number one followed by the home team taking on Avish Auto Sales in the second fixture. Lower East Coast Zone, Enterprise (B) versus Golden Grove at Enterprise
Community Centre from 10:00hrs, followed by Enterprise (A) meeting Lusignan (A) in the second match from 13:30hrs with Gavin D’Aguiar officiating. At Buxton Community Centre ground, Plaisance will oppose Lusignan (B) from 10:00hrs while Buxton (B) and Mon Repos (B) will meet in the second fixture, with Anandjit and Dhanraj calling play. Kenlyn Baker will be the official at the Better Hope Community Centre ground, with two matches Better Hope (B) meeting Lions XI and Better Hope (A) facing Buxton (A), while at Ogle, Robert Adonis and Validam Ritney will call play when Ogle (Blue) meet Mon Repos (A) and Ogle (Red) face La Bonne Intention.
THE eighth annual `Ride for Life’ five-stage cycle road race will be staged from October 16 to 19 and will cover a distance of approximately 266 miles. The four-day event, which is open to all local cyclists, is expected to attract a number of overseasbased Guyanese cyclists as well as foreign riders and is expected to be a scorcher, as most of the local-based pedal-pushers will be seeking to out-pedal their foreign-based counterparts as well as those from the Region and further afield. The first stage gets under way at 07:30hrs from outside the Corriverton Police Station and concludes at Alexander Street, New Amsterdam, Berbice, a distance of 46.6 miles. Stage two (60.4 miles) will commence from 14:00hrs the same day and will wheel off from the Rosignol Stelling road and conclude on Carifesta Avenue, Georgetown. The third stage will commence at 09:00hrs from outside the Wales Police Station, West Bank Demerara and conclude at Bushy Park, East Bank Essequibo, a journey of 35 miles. From there the cyclists will be transported by boat to Essequibo Coast and the following day, they will
Raynauth Jeffrey is the defending champion.
do battle over 67.1 miles, starting from Supenaam at 07:30hrs and will proceed to Charity then return to Suddie for the finish. The fifth and final stage pedals off at 08:30hrs from Kara Kara, Linden Highway and concludes on Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown. Raynauth Jeffrey is the defending champion in the open category, while Hamza Eastman and Raymond Newton won the juniors and veterans’ categories last year. Jeffrey’s time last year was 10 hours 5 minutes 33 seconds while Eastman clocked 10 hours 9 minutes 56 seconds. Newton stopped the clock last year at 10 hours 9 minutes 57 seconds.