Savage Masters, Mike’s Wellman play to exciting tie

GSCL Inc/ Republic Cup 4

– Success snatch open title from Regal

The “Fat-lady” was at Everest Cricket Club on Sunday but was not allowed to sing on the exciting Republic Cup 4 masters final as Savage Masters and Mike’s Wellman played to a nail-biting tie that ended in almost darkness.
A pulsating day was anticipated and the teams delivered. The Sunday crowd of mostly families stayed until the end to witness the dingdong battle of the masters. After convincing semifinal victories, Savage Masters and Mike’s Wellman took to the championship match which was reduced to 12 overs a-side due to fading light.
Batting first in the masters’ final, Savage Masters posted 154-4 in 12 overs. Ricky Deonarain fashioned a brilliant 53 while Uniss Yusuf supported with 39 and Patrick Khan 20. Following the demise of opener Ramo Malone for seven with the score on 29, Yusuf and Khan added 38 before Yusuf was removed by Lakeram “Mike” Singh after hitting one four and four sixes. After the demise of Khan, the right-handed Deonarain beefed up the total with some power hitting. He brought back memories of the falling sweep shot invented by former West Indies star batsman Rohan Kanhai; he played the shot to perfection smashing Sheldon Perch, Wayne Jones and Singh for maximums. Deonarain clobbered seven sixes in his robust innings as Singh, Jones and Greg De Franca had one wicket each.
Nandram Samlall and De Franca added 37 for the first wicket to set Mike’s Wellman on course before Samlall was removed by Malone for 18. The dangerous Jagdesh Persaud was then taken off Danny Thomas for eight while De Franca was dismissed for 24. Mike’s Wellman then found themselves in some trouble at 74-4, but Lloyd Rooplall and Jones steadied the chase nicely with a stand of 48.  Rooplall smashed one four and five sixes before he departed for 40. Following his demise Mike’s Wellman lost a few wickets, but Jones kept them in hunt with sensible batting. The game came down to the wire with Mike’s Wellman needing 10 off the final over delivered by Khan. Jones and Hardat Heeranandan picked up nine from five balls, but Heeranandan lost his concentration and fired a wild swipe at the last ball and was bowled as Mike’s Wellman finished on 154-8.  Jones who hit two fours and a similar number of sixes remained unbeaten on 36 as Zameer Hassan claimed 2-3 off one over and Navindra Pooran 2-29.
Mike’s Wellman beat Ariel Masters by six wickets in their semifinal match up. Batting first, Ariel Masters made 170-6. Roy Kumar struck 58 while Peter Persaud made 28 and Darmindra Mohabir 23. Mike’s Wellman responded with 171-4 in 14.5 overs. Jagdesh Persaud scored 81, Samall got 32 and De Franca 20; Kumar and Mohabir had two wickets each.
Savage got the better of Regal Masters by seven wickets in the second semifinal. Regal Masters took first strike and scored 154-8. Mahase Chunilall hit 64, Eon Abel made 32 and Fazleem Mohamed 20. Zameer Hassan and Navindra Pooran had two wickets each. Savage Masters made 159-3 in 13.4 overs in reply. Uniss Yusuf and Patrick Khan scored 42 each while Troy Ramsaywack got 27.
Earlier, Ariel Masters beat Success Masters by 39 runs. Ariel Masters took first turn at the crease and managed 161-8. Surujlall Kumar and Raghunandan Narine hit 43 each while Mohamed Rafeek made 23. Mark Fung claimed three wickets while A. Azimulla and K. Ramnauth had two wickets apiece.
Success Masters were bowled out for 122 in 14 overs in response. Hackim Majeed made 24 and Mohamed Mulla 22; Rudolph Meyers bagged 4-23 and Talesh Ramotar 2-23.

In the Open final, Regal All Stars made a below par 67 in 10 overs, taking first strike. Richard Latif (1×4; 2×6) made 28 as the rest of the batting crumbled like nine pins to steady bowling from Success XI who ar eon their comeback trail after an extended period in the wilderness.
Although poor shot selection aided in the one sided affair, Success were largely indebted to Puran John and Stephan Felix who bowled tidily picki

ng up four wickets each. the new champions, then raced to victory in seven overs as they finished on 68 with out loss.
Surujpaul Deosarran hit four fours and in a top score of 23 while Dindyal Lakhan made 19 with two fours and one six. Extras contributed a healthy 27.
Earlier, Success beat Farm AI by 65 runs after scoring 166-7 in their 15 overs. Surujpaul Deosarran made 42 as Rawle Reid claimed 3-16. Farm were bowled out for 101 in 13.3 overs in reply. Sachin Ramsarran got 22 and Amir Khan 16; John had 3-31 and Felix 2-27.
In the other semifinal, Regal All Stars overcame Farm by 38 runs. Regal All Stars took first strike and scored 150-9 with Wazir Hussain blasting 74, Marvin Bobb 27 and Tyrone Sanasie 21 towards the end of the innings. Amir Khan grabbed four wickets and Ricky Sargeant two. Farm were sent packing for 112 in 13 overs in reply. Ravlin Layne made 34 and Ramsarran 24. Tyrone Sanasie captured 3-20, Narine Bailey 2-15 and Kelvin Orford 2-26.
Stephon Felix was named Man-of-the-match in the Open final while Wayne Jones was named Man-of-the-Match of the Masters final.
The day’s event was also used as a fund raiser for the Georgetown Softball Cricket League Inc (GSCL) who will be sending teams to participate in the Florida Cup softball cricket tournament at the end of February. It can be said that players from the Regal Masters and All Stars teams were mentally and physically tired for their games after they were seen putting in their efforts to make the BBQ a success. The competition was sponsored by Trophy Stall, Ink Plus, Elegance Jewelry and Pawn Shop, Star Party Rentals, Ansa Mc Al, Digicel, Wolf’s Furniture Store, Top Brandz, Wild Catch Fish Depot, Crown Mining, Regal Sport and Regal Stationery and Computer Centre.