THE ELEVENTH edition of the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club Busta Champion of Champions 40-Overs Cricket Tournament finally bowled off last Sunday after several delays due to bad weather.

Four teams – Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets, West Berbice, Albion Community Centre and Tucber Park (formerly Bermine) – advanced to the semi-finals scheduled for Saturday, after recording victories in the opening rounds.
The highlights of the opening rounds were a brilliant century from Berbice senior opening batsman Kandasammy Surujnarine for Albion and a five-wicket haul from Tucber Park left-arm spinner Troy Mickle.
At the Area “H” Ground, Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets defeated Upper Corentyne by 60 runs. Batting first, the home team rattled up 170 all out in 38.4 overs with Leroy Bristol top-scoring with 48 and he received support from Vihal Crandon 45 (5×4, 1×6) and Delbert Hicks 31 while Keon Sinclair clipped in with 20 not out.
Bowling for Upper Corentyne O. Khemraj took 4 wickets for 40 runs and D. Latchman 2 for 37 from 8 overs each. In response, Upper Corentyne were bowled out for 110 in 33.5 overs with only D. Chatterpaul 32 and I. Ingram 31 offering any resistance to veteran pacer Sherwin Murray 8-2-24-2, and off-spinner Troy Mathieson 2 for 17 from 8 overs and left-arm spinner Leroy Bristol 2 for 17.
Tucber Park easily defeated Young Warriors by 7 wickets at Cumberland ground. Young Warriors, batting first after winning the toss, were dismissed for 124 in 38.1 overs with only skipper Ishwar Singh 65 (8×4, 1×6) and Alex Algu 26 reaching double figures.
Left-arm spinner Troy Mickle 5 for 15 from 6 overs, Eugene La Fleur 2 for 17 (17.1 overs) and Joemal la Fleur 2 for 18 were the main destroyers for Tucber Park, who in response raced to victory, ending on 127 for 3 in 28 overs. Anthony D’Andrade 43 not out, Hakeem Hinds 30 and Devon Clements 20 not out batted well for the visitors
Berbice senior opener Kandasammy Surujnarine (112 off 116 balls and all-rounder Balchan Baldeo 70 (73 balls) added a Busta Cup opening partnership of 165 off 30 overs to inspire Albion Community Centre to 216 for 3 off 40 overs.
At the Port Mourant ground against the home team, Kandasammy blasted 13 boundaries while national player Jonathan Foo clipped in with 20. Port Mourant in reply were dismissed for 216 in 39.2 overs to lose by 10 runs in a close contest. Rajiv Ivan top-scored with 56 while Yogendra Harrinarine (38) and Troy Gonsalves (16) supported.
Harrinarine was dismissed in the 40th over with 10 runs required from 5 balls to the relief of the Albion supporters. West Indies Under-19 player Gudakesh Motie bowled brilliantly to end with five wickets for 36 runs from 8 overs while Jonathan Foo, bowling off-spin, claimed 3 for 36.
At the Blairmont ground, the home team suffered at the hands of West Berbice by 21 runs in another exciting match. Batting first, West Berbice reached 136 all out in 33 overs with Arthley Bailey and Steffon Adams top-scoring with 20 each. Off-spinner Shameer Baksh 3 for 22 and left-arm spinner Waqar Hussain 3 for 30 were the main destroyers for Blairmont.
Needing to score 137 in 37 overs to register an upset victory, Blairmont could manage only 116 in 33 overs with Javed Karim 23, Nick Ramsaroop 25 and Parmanand Ramdhan being the principal scorers.
Kellon Carmichael 3 for 28, Keon Fraser 2 for 20 and Raun Johnson 2 for 27 being the best bowlers for West Berbice.
The semi-finals will be held on Saturday with West Berbice facing Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets at the Area “H” ground while Albion Community Centre and Tucber Park collide at the Rose Hall Canje ground. The final will be played in March.
The tournament is being played as part of the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club Silver Jubilee Celebration.