Grill Master defeats Spartan in championship thriller

Grill Master defeated Spartan by one wicket to emerge the 2017 Champions of the Busta Champion or Champions Tournament on Sunday. Playing in front of a large and colourful crowd at the Area ‘H’ Ground in Rose Hall Town in glorious weather, Grill Master held their nerves to clinch victory with two balls remaining with the last pair at the wicket.
Grill Master inserted Spartan who reached a massive 141 for 6 off their allotted 12-overs with Krishon Sukhai 43 (2x4s; 3x6s) David Lukenauth (18), Joshua Diaram (34) and Kishan Gangaram (14) being the principal scorers.

Bowling for Grill Master Vishal Phillips 1-18 and Kumar Thararhan 1-38 were the best bowlers. In response, Grill Master was fortunate that opener Keith Fraser was dropped by Kishan Gangaram off the first ball of the innings. Fraser and fellow opener Vishal Phillips then punished the Spartan Bowlers to all parts of the ground by adding 69 runs off just 5.3 Overs before Phillips was dismissed by Krishon Sukhai for 30.
Fraser went on to top score with 44 before he was second out at 85 for 2 in the 8th Over. Grill Master lost their way as Balram Samaroo 04, Roy Jaferally 15, Devindra Ramoutar 00, Oliver Giddings 03 were dismissed cheaply to leave their team needing 36 from 3-Overs.
Keon Sinclair (13) and Wahied Edwards (20) added 30 crucial runs in two overs before Sinclair was dismissed off the fourth delivery of the eleventh Over. With the dismissal of Edwards, Grill Master needed six runs off five balls but a composed No. 10 Steve Sampson struck a boundary to ease the tension.
John Percival was then run out for naught and the last pair was required to score two runs off two balls/ a nervous Joshua Diaram then bowled two successive wides to hand victory to the relieved Grill Master Team.
In the 3rd Place match, Hard Knock made easy work of Terry Grocery XI to beat them by 8 wickets. Terry Grocery reached 63 for 5 off their allotted 8 Overs before skipper Eldine Mendonca with 33 not out led his team to the 3rd Place prize package.
Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club, MS, Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster hailed the 14th Edition of the Busta Champion of Champions Tournament as a resounding success and described the Final as the best ever witnessed in his twenty-six years at the Club.
General Manager of the Guyana Beverage Company Robert Selman, Commercial Manager Mr. Arjune and Marketing Co-ordinator Raymond Govindan all praised for the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club for organising a Tournament that properly represented the Busta Brand.
The Winning Team received $150 000.00 and the Busta Trophy, the 1st Runner-up $75 000.00 and trophy, 2nd Runner-up $50 000.00 and trophy while Fraser received a financial reward and trophy after being named Man of the Finals. Fraser and David Lukenauth received special trophies after being named best batsman and bowler in the Final respectively. Funds raised by the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club during the tournament would be used by its ten cricket teams to provide food hampers for less fortunate families during the upcoming Festive Season.