Shepherd bowls Berbice to Inter-county title

SUMMARY: Essequibo 98 all out from 33.4 overs (Extras 37, Anthony Adams 23*, Garfield Phillips 12; Romario Shepherd 4-26, Clinton Pestano 3-20, Gudakesh Motie 2-18, Veerasammy Permaul 1-6) vs Berbice 101-5 from 15.2 overs (Anthony Bramble 35, Kevin Sinclair 24*; Keemo Paul 4-31)

Shepherd and Pestano rock Essequibo

Winning the toss and electing to bat, Essequibo wickets fell in a heap as seam pair Romario Shepherd and Clinton Pestano ran through the top and middle order, picking up seven wickets in 11 overs of mayhem.

Their opening spells basically dictated the outcome of the game, as a mixture of good bowling was met with some not-so-wise strokeplay.

Left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie added two more wickets to leave Essequibo in tatters at 57-9 at the start of the 15th over, and there was a real threat that the day/night game was going to end way before the floodlights were switch on.

It took a courageous last-wicket partnership of 41 in 19.4 overs between skipper Anthony Adams and Garfield Phillips to take the innings deep, a fight that was duly applauded by the vocal Essequibo supporters.