Rukhram fires Assassins to victory at Dassy softball tournament
Assassins emerged victorious in the Dassy 10-10 one-day softball extravaganza on Saturday at Keele Top, Toronto where they beat Challengers in the six-over final.
Challengers took first strike at the invitation of Assassins and they only made 58-2 off the six overs while Assassins, in reply, reached the target without any fuss and 10 balls to spare.
Left-hander and Canada-based Guyanese Avish Rukhram led the way with an enterprising, unbeaten 53 laced with six sixes and two fours while Damodar Daesrath was with him on five, much to the celebration of their team-mates and vocal supporters.
When Challengers batted, there was no big scorer as Riaz Kadir, in a captain’s performance, grabbed two wickets for seven runs from two overs, delivering for Assassins, who beat a star-studded SCC in the semis.
The day began with 11 sides competing for the trophy and cash incentive of CDS$4000. The day’s event started with a 10-over a-side contest, but was reduced to eight overs at the semi-final stage and then six overs in the championship showdown under rainy skies.
At the presentation, organiser Daesrath, a former Guyana First-Class player who represented Canada at the highest level, thanked all the teams for their participation and also expressed similar sentiments to the sponsors.
Special mention was made of the family of the late Johnny Bujan, who was remembered as a servant to Cricket Canada. According to Daesrath, the games were played in memory of Bujan, who met his demise in 2016 in a vehicular accident in his native Trinidad and Tobago. His son Joshwa Bujan was very thankful to Daesrath and another organiser, Tony Ramdass, for pulling off such a terrific softball tournament in the midst of a pandemic.
Joshwa also took the opportunity to congratulate the winners and presented a cheque of CDN$1000 towards charity.
Meanwhile, at the presentation, the winners received the trophy sponsored by I&R General Contracting Inc, while Challengers took home one compliments of Dent Wizard. A trophy was given to Rukhram for being the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the final, thanks to Canadian Surplus Guyana. He also copped the best batsman prize, a trophy sponsored by Tropical Nights Restaurant. Kadir got a trophy for the most wickets in the championship contest, courtesy of Caribbean Lyme Restaurant while Daesrath won the trophy for the most runs of the day , the trophy was donated by Flavour Restaurant. Kadir also took home the trophy for the most wickets of the day, which was donated by B Boy Transportation LTD. Edward Morrison was the player with the highest individual score and he got a trophy and bat, courtesy of T&S Enterprise. Leguan Boys was the side to record the highest team’s score and they collected a trophy, compliments of 24 Hour Glass. Best catch went to Prince Younge and he took home a trophy sponsored by JDG Tooling and the trophy for the biggest six went to Rukhram, thanks to PGI.