A thrilling day of exciting cricket defined May 1, the final day of the MYO Inter-Jamaat 15 Overs Softball Cricket Competition, which ended with a nail-biting finale played at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) ground in Queenstown, Georgetown.
In that MYO encounter against Diamond New Scheme, Diamond won the toss and sent in MYO to take first strike. The opening pair of Shaheed Gittens and Safraz Esau gave the MYO team a good start by making 106 runs in 7 overs, before Esau was bowled for 49 runs (6 x 6, 1 x 4) off the bowling of Patrick Khan.
The victorious Diamond New Scheme
After Gittens was caught off the bowling of Patrick Khan for 55 runs (4 x 6, 6 x 4), wickets fell at regular intervals, and MYO could post only 176 for 8 in their 15 overs. The bowling wreckers were Patrick Khan and Sheldon Perch with 2 wickets each.
Diamond New Scheme got off to a bad start, with the in-form opener Rawl Reid caught off the bowing of Fazal Nazeem for duck. Keisho Ramsarran strolled to the crease to join opener Rickey Sargeant, but was sent packing for 1 run when he was caught off the bowling of Timore Mohamed.
Ameer Khan, who then occupied the crease with a determination to keep the scoreboard ticking, plundered boundaries all over the ground. Then Kishan fell in the 6th over for 13, bowled by Safraz Esau.
With the score on 47 for 4, Rajesh Reddy came to the crease, and the sweep shot again proved most effective as he dispatched the ball to all parts of the boundary. Ameer Khan fell in the 12th over for 59 runs (4 x 6, 2 x 4), and the score was then 138, requiring another 39 runs in 3 overs.
The experienced Patrick Khan again joined Reddy as he had done in the semi-finals, and these two took their team close to the target. Richard Latiff was entrusted to bowl the final over, with 11 runs to defend. In the 1st ball, Reddy was bowled for a match winning 63 runs (8 x 6, 2 x 4). In came Sheldon Perch, and he, too, was bowled.
Safraz Mohamed came to the crease with 11 runs to get from 4 balls. He took a single, bringing it to 10 in 3 balls, and Patrick Khan then smashed the next ball for 6 over midwicket. Still requiring 4 runs from 2 balls, Latiff then bowled a dot delivery.
With Diamond now requiring 4 runs from 1 ball for the victory, Latiff did the unexpected and bowled a wide ball down the leg side, allowing Diamond to run 2. With 1 required off 1 ball, Latiff again bowled a wide, giving Diamond New Scheme the victory. Latiff ended with 3 wickets for 27 runs.
In the end, the Man of the Match was awarded to Rajesh Reddy for his match winning knock of 63 runs. The accolade for the most runs scored in the competition and highest individual score (Preliminary round) was given to Keion De Jesus (New Amsterdam), who had 335 runs and 122 runs respectively. The best bowling figures and the most wickets awards (Preliminary Round) were given to Wahab Riaz (New Amsterdam) for his 7-16 and 18 wickets in total.
