Hemraj’s Somerset Cavaliers topple US Allstars despite Griffith’s all-round performance

…Griffith, Hemraj lead batting charts

Action is the US Open T20 League saw many top teams and top players from Guyana and around the Caribbean competing for the coveted prize of being deemed the champions. However, the coveted title went to the Somerset Cavaliers, as they were able to beat the US Allstars by 11 runs in a thriller to close out the 2021 season.

The tournament saw two outstanding Guyanese talents on opposite teams facing each other. The in-form Trevon Griffith was representing the Allstars, while Chandrapaul Hemraj was representing the Cavaliers, who boasted a simple and well-balanced team, compared to their opponents, who had the likes of Lendl Simmons, Ali Khan, Denish Ramdin, Jason Mohammed and Fidel Edwards, among others.

The Allstars won the toss and opted to bowl, as they aimed to restrict the Cavaliers to a meagre total. The Cavaliers managed to post 150-7 in their allotted 20 overs, with Steven Taylor emerging as the man to beat, as he scored 47 off 37 balls (4×4, 2×6) before falling to Trevon Griffith. Hemraj, on the other hand, scored an aggressive 20 off 13 balls, but lost his wicket to Jon Russ Jagessar.
From there the Allstars restricted the Cavaliers’ scoring, with both Griffith and Jagessar bagging one more wicket. Hammad Azam’s 19-ball 23 played some part in getting the Cavaliers to a decent total.

Bowling for the Allstars, Trevon Griffith took 2-25, Jon Russ Jagessar took 2-33, Fidel Edwards took 1-23 and Imran Khan took 1-29.
Needing 151 for victory – which seemed like a walk in the park – the Allstars’ approach to the target was somewhat cavalier. Lendl Simmons smashed one boundary and two maximums before he departed for 18. Trevon Griffith, however, led the charge with 57 off 45 deliveries, but he received no support. When Griffith’s wicket fell, the score was at 112-5 in 15.2 overs, and Denish Ramdin was the only recognised batsman at the crease.
When the 19th over was completed, the score read 132-6, with the Allstars needing 19 runs off 6 balls. Ramdin and Yannick Ottley were at the crease, and Hammad Azam had the ball in hand. Azam kept things tight, giving away only 7 only runs and taking the wicket of Ottley, to give the Cavaliers the 2021 championship of this league.
Leading the runs chart at the end of the competition was Trevon Griffith with 233 runs from his 6 games, scored at an average of 77.67 and a high score of 59. Hemraj came in at number 3 with 207 runs from his 6 games, scored at an average of 41.1 with a high score of 75. Winston Forrester, who represented Yankee Royals CC, played 4 games and scored 104 runs at an average of 34.67 and a high score of 67. These players rounded out the top 25 run-scorers in the league who are Guyanese.