FOLLOWING enthralling semifinal victories over Universal DVD Club Young Warriors and Blairmont Blazers respectively, Memorex Bermine and Rose Hall Town Gizmos and Gadgets (RHTGG) will meet in Sunday’s final of the inaugural Berbice Cricket Board-organised, Universal DVD and Solutions-sponsored first division Twenty20 competition. Memorex Bermine won the toss and asked Universal DVD Club Young Warriors to take first strike and reduced them to 114 for 8 from their 20 overs, after they had raced to 23 without loss from 3 overs, thanks to the bowling of Troy Mickle who took 3 for 19 and Devon Clements 2 for 11.
Clements returned with the bat to hit an unbeaten 38 (3×4), adding 66 for the third wicket with Keion De Jesus who struck one four  and one six in his 31, as Memorex Bermine reached 115 for 4 from 19 overs, even though Ameer Rahaman threatened their response with two early wickets to end with 2 for 13.
In the second semifinal, an almost packed-to-capacity crowd saw Blairmont Blazers win the toss and take first strike on a sluggish looking track
But thanks to Rajiv Ivan’s 3 for 15 and skipper Shawn Pereira’s 2 for 20, RHTGG limited them to 107 for 9 from their 20 overs then replied with 108 for 2 from 14.4 overs in reply, with Renwick Batson hitting an unbeaten 48.
In the Memorex Bermine/Universal DVD Young Warriors encounter, Universal DVD got a vibrant start from Shimron Hetmyer who struck three fours in his 23 and Richard Ramdeen (8) with both batsmen hitting fast bowler Romario De Jonge for 4 and 6 in the game’s first over.
The demise of both openers and national Under-19 batsman Linden Austin, left the Canje based team on 42 for 3 in the seventh over, but thanks to some lusty hitting from Kevin Ramdeen who top-scored with 30 (1×4, 1×6) and the veteran Anil Beharry who reverse-swept national off-spinner Steven Latcha for 6 and 4 in the final over, they reached 114 for 8 from their 20 overs.
Left-arm spinner Troy Mickle took 3 for 19 while Devon Clements 2 for 11 did the damage with the ball for Memorex Bermine who watched as Clements struck an unbeaten 38 (3×4), Keion De Jesus made 31 (1×6, 1×4) and Ishwar Singh a quick-fire 17 as they reached 115 for 4 from 19 overs.
Clements and De Jesus added 66 for the third wicket, following the demise of the La Fleur brothers in Joemal La Fleur who was bowled by Ameer Rahaman (2-13) for 1 and Eugene who was caught at long on by Richard Ramdeen also off Rahaman for 11.
De Jesus struck a Kevin Ramdeen free hit back over his head for six, while Clements struck both Richard Ramdeen and Austin for four and even though Memorex Bermine were behind the eighth ball in terms of run rate, Singh eased their worries by hitting Balram Samaroo back over his head for 6 to level the scores before he was dismissed off the next delivery.
In the second semifinal, Blairmont Blazers lost two quick wickets, that of Christopher Patadin (01) who was bowled by Royston Crandon and Romesh Boodram to be 17 for 2 in the seventh over of their innings.
Deveshwari Persaud (20, 1×4) and skipper Karamdat Bissoondyal 33 (2×6, 1×4) pushed the score to 53, before Persaud was caught by Pestano at midwicket off Eon Hooper, who stood in shock when Batson grassed an easy offer from Bissoondyal at long leg in his first over.
Bissoondyal said thanks for the life by hitting Pereira for six over midwicket in successive overs, before Jason Sinclair held a magnificent catch running around from deep midwicket to wide long on, after he struck Pereira for his second six.
The home team’s batting struggled after his demise, as Ivan bowled a tight line and length at the depth of their innings, to remove Devendra Lalsa (4), Brandon Bess (16) and Waqar Hassan (0), with Bess and Hassan being dismissed in the final over.
Batson and Delbert Hicks pushed RHTGG to 43 for 1 in the seventh over, with both batsmen hitting Bess and Boodram for boundaries in their first over, before Hicks was given out caught at the wicket for 17 (2×4).
National skipper and West Indies ‘A’ team batsman Assad Fudadin joined Batson who had earlier struck Hassan over wide long on for 6 and after being given a life by Lalsa at short extra cover off the bowling of Nadesh Basdeo, eased the bowler to long on for 4 two deliveries later.
A well judged catch by Bess, in comparison to the one taken by Sinclair to remove Bissoondyal when Blairmont Blazers batted, saw the demise of Fudadin who was looking to ease Basdeo over midwicket for six.
That was the home team’s last hurrah, as Ivan joined Batson who struck both Basdeo and Bess for six, with the six struck off Bess sealing the win for the Rose Hall Town based team, as they moved on to another final, confirming their dominance of cricket at the first division level in the Ancient County of Berbice. Ivan was unbeaten on 5.
The final will be played at the same venue from 13:30hrs on Sunday and will be preceded by the third place fixture which bowls off at 09:00hrs between Universal DVD Young Warriors and Blairmont Blazers and as an added boost, the sponsor will be offering cash prizes for every six struck in the final.