Persaud’s 6 hands Malvern T20 title despite Fernandes’ efforts

After weeks of scintillating cricket action on the West Coast of Demerara (WCD), Malvern Cricket Club faced off against Rising Stars ‘B’ in the Malvern T20 final played at the Malvern Cricket Ground.
Winning the toss, Malvern elected to bowl on a sticky wicket and under overcast conditions. Sent in to bat, the Rising Stars side began to lose wickets at regular intervals, and were in danger of being bowled out before the 8th over. The form they had shown in the competition was not the same they employed in play, because they were playing as if they were holding a bat for the first time.
However, Tamesh Jagroop and Elroy Fernandes played resistant knocks of 20 and 19 respectively, and were the proverbial “thorns in the side” of the almost victorious Malvern Cricket Club. In the end, Rising Stars ‘B’ were skittled out for 83 runs made in 10.4 overs, as the in-form Lesroy Persaud bagged 6-17 in his allotted four overs, and was able to maintain a wicket-to-wicket line as he extracted both bounce and swing in making the Rising Stars side work for their runs.
Needing a simple total of 84 for victory off 120 balls, at a net run rate of 4.2 runs per over, Malvern set out to chase their target in a patient manner. They played the power play overs safely, and were reluctant to lose any wicket in chasing such a small total.
However, Elroy Fernandes and Shane Persaud were not going down without a fight. The all-rounder and bowler respectively brought their side back into the game as they picked up a few quick wickets after the power play. Fernandes’ early wickets restricted the scoring rate of the Malvern team and prolonged their quest for victory, while Persaud’s miserly bowling almost put his team in possession of the title.
Eventually Malvern reached their target in 156.2 overs, with Khem Wong top-scoring with 38 and Ajay Basdeo chipping in with a well-played 32. Bowling for Rising Stars, Elroy Fernandes took 4 for 20 and Shane Persaud took 2 for 6.