Regal Masters and Regal All Stars will contest the final of their respective category of the second edition of the Orlando Softball Cricket League (OSCL) Orlando Cup on Sunday after convincing victories in the semi-finals on Saturday at Hogshed Ground.
Regal Masters side beat Ontario Masters by the wide margin of 62 runs on a small ground that produced a lot of runs.
Regal opted to bat first and got to 202 for 6 from 20 overs.
Opener Mahesh Chunilall continued his fine form with another half century this weekend with 52 from 47 balls including five fours and a six.
However, it was Eric Thomas and Eon Abel who pushed the match out of the reach of their opponents with pugnacious batting that also entertained the colourful Orlando crowd.
Thomas made 35 not out from 19 balls (6×4; 1×4) while Eon Abel slogged 33 form 13 balls (2×6; 3×4).
Rajesh Parsnauth and Wally Bacchus took 2 wickets each for the Canadians who rallied to 140 for 6 to lose by 62 runs.
Ken Sanichar top scored with 35 (1×6; 5×4) while Mahendra Parasnauth made 21
Not out.
David Harper had 2 for 19 and got support from Fazleem Mohamed with 2 for 24.
In Sunday’s final, Regal Masters who won the Florida Cup in 2017 will take on another Guyanese side in Floodlights Masters who defeated New York Softball Cricket League Masters.
In the Open Category, Regal All Stars made light work of Hurricanes of South Florida in their semi-final tie.
Hurricanes were inserted but came under tremendous pressure from the Regal bowlers and were reduced to 95 for 6 from their allotment of 20 overs. Preevnath “Powtie” Motielall picked up 3 for 18 from 4 tidy overs. Only M. Sooknandan with 17 runs showed some fight.
In reply, Fazal Rafiek and Richard Latif then knocked off the target with 7.1 overs to spare.
Rafiek scored 36 (2×6; 4×4) and Latif 27 (2×6; 1×4) as the 2017 winners of the Florida Cup finished on 96 for 4 from 12.5 overs to win by 6 wickets.
R. Persaud picked up 3 wickets for 34 runs.
In their quest for more Florida glory, they will have Assassins in their way. They beat Assassins at the preliminary stage of the tournament and will fancy their chances again on the big stage.
Assassins beat Guyana All Stars by 9 wickets on their way to the final after overcoming a stiff challenge from Speed Boat in the group stage where they won by 1 wicket with 1 ball to spare.
The stakes are high but winning another double is the ultimate prize for the well-oiled Regal teams. The All Stars will battle for the Orlando Cup and US$4,000 while the Masters will play for their Orlando Cup and US$2,500.
The tournament attracted 26 teams over the three days.
