Hemraj’s all-round brilliance leads Cavaliers to victory…
The Somerset Cavaliers made light work of SAMP Army in the opening match of the US Open Cricket 2020 at Central Broward Regional Park. This was thanks to the efforts of Guyana’s very own Chandrapaul Hemraj and Jamaica’s Kenar Lewis. Combined, they helped their team to win by 9 wickets.
At the spin of the toss, the Cavaliers won and chose to field, this decision allowed them to restrict their opponents to 133-3 in their allotted 20 overs.
While SAMP Army played things safe from the get go, they reaped hard luck, as this resulted in such a meagre score. Despite top scores of 61 from Kunal Sehgal and 59 from Sanjay Stanley, the team wasn’t saved, as good bowling pegged them back whenever they aimed to accelerate.
Andre Russell will be part of the Cavaliers Franchise
Hemraj was the leading bowler, as he was not only economical but managed to bag two important wickets in his three overs, resulting in him ending with figures of 2-10.
Navin Stewart was also able to bag a wicket, while the experienced West Indian Fidel Edwards bowled his four overs for 34 runs.
With 134 needed for victory, this total was a walk in the park for the Cavaliers. Hemraj and Lewis came together and decimated their opponents. Hemraj rallied with a 25-ball half-century which included 5 maximums and 4 boundaries, while Lewis, who was bowled for 61, did the damage off 21 balls, which included 5 maximums and 6 boundaries.
In the end, the damage was already done, and the SAMP Army knew there wasn’t much that could be done, as they awaited the final run to be scored to register their first loss.
Kenar Lewis top scored with 61 off 21 balls
With the Cavaliers now winning their opening game, their batting and bowling line-up has now been boosted with the presence of West Indian powerhouse Andre Russell, who arrived on Tuesday to play with them for the rest of the tournament, which ends on December 20, 2020.
The scores in the other games were:
Atlanta Paramveers defeated 22 Yards by six wickets: 22 Yards 111 all out in 18.5 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 33, Ahad Malik 21, Wayne Parnell 3-29, Khary Pierre 2-19, Akeal Hosein 2-19) vs Atlanta Paramveers 114-4 from 19.4 overs (Steven Taylor 46*, Chris Gayle 39, Dane Piedt 2-17).
Hemraj was able to bag 2-10 and score a quickfire 50
Brampton Pacers defeated Afghan Zwanan by four wickets: Afghan Zwanan 133-9 from 20 overs (Paul Palmer 45*, Cody Chetty 34, Mark Deyal 2-18, Salman Nazar 2-20, Junaid Siddiqui 2-25) vs Brampton Pacers 135-6 from 18.5 overs (William Perkins 31, Asad Zaidi 27*, Ronsford Beaton 2-27).
