The two finalists who would be contesting this year’s Ontario Round-Arm Softball Cricket Association (ORSCA) 20-over final to be held on Saturday at Marvin Heights School ground in Mississauga, Toronto are the Sunshine team and the Cambridge Jaguars.
At the semi-final stage played on Sunday in Toronto, Sunshine beat arch-rivals Masters by a thrilling five-wicket margin, while Cambridge Jaguars roared to a comfortable 51-run win over the Fuzions Sports Club.
Masters took first knock at the invitation of Sunshine, and set up a challenging 178-5 from the 20 overs allotted; while Sunshine, in reply, reached the target for the loss of five wickets and with three deliveries unused.
Rajkumar Budhram hit for Masters an impressive 61 that included four sixes and three fours, while the experienced Kumar Doodnauth slammed a cameo 55 that was laced with five sixes.
Former Guyana and West Indies youth player Hemnarine Chattergoon led the way with the ball, grabbing three wickets for 24 runs from his allotted four overs. Rajesh Willy claimed two for 36 from his maximum four overs.
When Sunshine batted, their opener, Canada-based Guyanese Anil Etwaroo, plundered eight sixes in his aggressive 54, while Azam Haniff and Chattergoon chipped in with 28 and 26 respectively.
Doodnauth returned with the ball to take 2-32 in his four-over outing.
And Jaguars rattled up a sufficient 158 all out off their 20 overs, while Fuzions Sports Club was left hanging on 107-9 when their 20 overs expired.
Vijay Jhappan hit a top-score of 38, while Jerry Pooran scored 34 and a useful 21 came from Shilendra Singh.
Veteran player Sanjeev Ramnarine snatched three wickets for 22 runs off four tidy overs. He was ably supported by Aafroze Aziz, who collected 2-9 off four overs as well.
In Fuzions’ time at the crease, only Syed Hamid put up a fight with 22. Singh returned with the ball to snare two wickets for 16 runs from 2.4 overs. Richie Shivrattan also picked up two wickets, but conceded 36 runs from his four overs.
Meanwhile, according to the President of ORSCA, Mitchel Bacchus, the championship game is set to begin at 1pm. He further informed that there would an exhibition game between an over-50 team and an under-23 team. The 18-year-old Kavita Sukhoo would participate in that match. Sukhoo is the lone female cricketer who represented a club in this year’s tournament since the formation of the ORSCA ten years ago.
Bacchus also took the opportunity to announce that the association would be hosting its presentation dinner and dance on October 23 at Sagan’s Banquet Hall in Mississauga. Several high-profile chutney singers are expected to grace the occasion with their presence, including USA-based Guyanese Terry Gajraj and Omesh Singh who is currently residing in Canada.
