The finale of the Central Essequibo T/20 Cricket Competition was played on Sunday September 29 at the Imam Bacchus Ground at Affiance, Essequibo Coast between the in-form Imam Bacchus Bulls and the Reliance Hustlers.
The victorious Bacchus Bulls team
The former team defeated the latter by 70 runs in a thriller.
Bacchus Bulls won the toss and elected to bat first. They got off to a splendid start, capitalising on the ‘powerplay’ overs to blast balls to every part of the boundary. Captain of the Bulls, Yougeshwar Lall, led from the front, as he scored a brilliant 59 that included 2 maximums and 3 boundaries.
His efforts receiving support from Navendra Persaud’s 33 (1×6, 5×4), Latchman Rohit’s 28 (2×6,3×4) and Neiland Cadogan’s 27 (3×4), enabled the Bulls to accumulate 175-4. Bowling for Reliance Hustlers, Anthony Ifill took 2 for 30.
But needing 176 for victory, Reliance Hustlers got off to the worst possible start, losing wickets at key intervals during the ‘power play’, as their batsmen attempted to carry on but wickets kept falling continuously.
After a stellar performance in their semifinal matchup, nerves got the better of the Reliance Hustlers, and in the end they were dismissed for 105, scored in 18.5 overs.
Top-scorers were Besham Narine with 19 (3×4) and Travis Simon with 17 (1×4).
Bowling for Bacchus Bulls, Parmesh Parsotam took 4 for 18 and Neiland Codogan 2 for 15; while Punraj Singh, Lallbachand Narine and Khulraj Persaud each bagged a wicket.
For the win, Bacchus Bulls received $50,000 and a trophy, while Reliance Hustlers received $20,000 and a trophy. Yougeshwar Lall was declared ‘man of the match’ for his 59, Parmesh Parsotam was declared ‘best bowler’, and Mark Austin was declared ‘most valuable player’.
