Ramnaresh Sarwan returned to form to lead Guyana to a crushing 114-run victory in their first game of the Nagico Regional Super50 tournament at the Queen's Park Oval on Friday night.That silky smooth batting returned from the little right hander as he thrilled with a brilliant unbeaten and together with half centuries from Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Trevon Griffth amassed 301 for three, the highest score ever made in a regional limited overs cricket at the Oval.Faced with this daunting task the Irish lost their two main batsmen in Niall O'Brien (4) and William Porterfield (0) and the contest was as good as over. Following them were Alex Cusack (12) and Gary Wilson (5), as Phil Simmons' men slipped to 27 for four. Doing the bulk of the damage was medium pacer Paul Wintz who grabbed 3/30.
Red Steel player Kevin O'Brien with 39 and Andrew Poynter with a rapid half century saved face to an extent but in the end they were always going to fall short of the target.Earlier, Ireland won the toss and decided to bowl first on a good batting track. With he sun blazing down their backs the Irish would have harboured hopes of firing out the openers. However, this did not transpire and soon they would have regretted that decision as sensible batting by Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Trevon Griffith rendered their opening attack meaningless.The left handed duo gathered runs easily and brought up their century stand in 23.2 overs.
SCOREBOARD
Guyana
T Griffith c Sorensen b K O'Brien 62
S Chanderpaul c Murtagh b K O'Brien 79
R Sarwan not out 89
C Barnwell c N O'Brien b K O'Brien 31
L Johnson not out 27
Extras w8, b4, lb1 13
Total for 3 wkts (50ovs) 301
Fall of wkts: 129, 160,
Bowling: M Sorensen 5-0-29-0, T Murtagh 8-57-0, A Cusack 10-1-70-0, A McBrine 10-0-34-0, G Dockrell 4-0-29-0, J Mooney 3-0-21-0, K O'Brien 10-2-56-3.
Ireland
W Portfield lbw Beaton 0
N O'Brien lbw Wintz 4
A Cusack b Wintz 12
G Wilson c Barnwell b Wintz 5
A Poynter run out 54
K O'Brien lbw Bishoo 39
J Mooney b Permaul 9
M Sorenson c Chanderpaul b Beaton 29
A McBrine b Deonarine 3
T Murtagh c & b Deonarine 4
G Dockrell not out 8
Extras lb4, w14, nb2 20
Total for 4 wkts (13ovs) 187
Fall of wkts: 5, 5, 21, 27, 86, 112, 143, 151, 162, 187.
Bowling: P Wintz 6-0-30-3, R Beaton 7.3-1-41-2, C Barnwell 7-0-34-0, V Permaul 10-1-31-1, D Bishoo 6-1-41-1, N Deonarine 2-0-6-2.
Result: Guyana won by 114 runs.
Man-of-match: Ramnaresh Sarwan.