The two matches in the 2nd edition of the Prime Minister’s T20 Softball Cup, held on Sunday at the Everest Cricket Ground on Carifesta Avenue, Georgetown, did not disappoint.
The victorious Regal Masters Team
Those matches, the Masters and the All-Stars, saw defending champions Regal Masters and Ariel Speedboat become consecutive champions.
In the first encounter, softball fans witnessed Regal Masters clashing with Mike’s Wellman. The on-field intensity was there, and Regal retained their title with some difficulty, as Mike’s brought the champs to a close-call encounter.
Batting first, Regal were able to amass 145-5 in their allotted 20 overs. At the beginning of the match, Regal were shaky. They lost early wickets, giving Wellman a glimpse of hope. Regal lost their openers Eon Abel and Mahendra Hardyal for scores of zero and 11 respectively.
They then went on to lose the in-form Eric Thomas for 7 off the bowling of spin master Imtiaz Mohamed, but the partnership of Mahendra Arjune (44) and David Harper (53) rebuilt the innings to give them a defendable total.
Imtiaz Mohamed naturally led the bowling for Wellman, bagging 3 for 17 off his allotted 4 overs. He was the only bowler able to make a dent in Regal’s innings.
Set a modest total of 146 to achieve victory, Mike’s Wellman lost both openers for 16 and 22 respectively.
W Hussein was awarded man of the match for his 78 runs. He was also named man of the series
They could not get any substantial partnership going, and missed the target by six runs, making 140-8 off their allotted 20 overs.
Masters’ bowling attack was led by spin doctor Mahendra Arjune, who bagged 4-28.
In the All-Stars semi-final, Speedboat were superb in the field, diving for every delivery and plunging for anything that looked like a boundary, when they battled Boots All-Stars in a one-sided affair.
Speedboat were able to restrict Boots All-Stars for 125-9 in their 20 overs. The only substantial score came from B. Samaroo, who bludgeoned 55 in his shot-filled innings.
Bowlers Kishore Smith with 3-24 and Nazir Hussain with miserly figures of 3-17 were the cream of the crop.
Set 126 to win, Speedboat raced to this total in ten overs, with S. Hussein scoring 32 and W Hussein, who was adjudged man of the series and man of the match, blasting 78 off 28 balls.
Boots just couldn’t stop Speedboat from trampling them. The bowlers were taken to the cleaners, with every bowler having an economy rate over 9 runs per over.
The All-Stars Champions received $700,000 for the win, while Masters had to settle for $600,000 as the teams celebrated to their hearts’ content. The tournament was organised by the Georgetown Softball Cricket League Inc. (Timothy Jaikarran)
