By Elroy Stephney

FOUR teams participated in the inaugural 10/10 championship, hosted by the Reliance Sports Club in Essequibo.
Last Sunday, a large gathering, including current and former Essequibo players; witnessed Bush Lot Trend Setters set the tone by defeating Cotton Field Sports Club by 8 wickets in the first encounter.
Batting first Cotton Field amassed 84 all out in their allotted 10 overs with Rajiv Kissoon top-scoring with 21 laced with three fours, while Rovendra Parasram made a brisk 20 with two fours and a six.

Medium fast bowler Leroy Roopchand had impressive figures of 4-8 from his 2 overs while captain Keith Blackman supported with 3-16 from his 2 overs of medium pace as well.
In reply, Bush Lot Trend Setters raced to 85-2 from just 6 overs with Nathan Persaud hammering an unbeaten 44, which included four sixes and two fours. Carlos Yhap also contributed an unbeaten 22 with three fours.

Antonio Bholo had 2-25 from his 2 overs in a losing cause. In the other match, Reliance Hustlers easily disposed of Reliance Masters who could have posted only 45-4 from a reduced 8 overs with Latchmikhant Narine scoring 15.
In reply, Reliance Hustlers reached 47-1 in the 4th over with Narendra Mandolall hitting an unbeaten 34, laced with four fours and two sixes to lead his team to a convincing nine-wicket win.

The final then took centrestage in what was an exciting affair and much to the delight of the fans. It was Bush Lot Trend Setters who won the toss and batted and it was Nathan Persaud who again led the way with a scintillating knock of 65 studded with seven sixes and four fours, while Shiva Bridgemohan also had a fluent innings of 36 which included three sixes and four fours.

At the conclusion of the 10 overs Bush Lot Trend Setters posted a competitive 131-4 and thought that they had done enough to claim the title
However, Reliance Hustlers had other ideas and were skilfully led by a savage innings of 82 (12 sixes and one four) from former Essequibo inter-county batsman Narendra Mandolall whose destruction of all the bowlers was quite a spectacle.
Reliance Hustlers reached the target of 13-3 from 9.3 overs and celebrated their seven-wicket victory and the title.

The winners and runners-up received trophies sponsored by G&P Jaigobin and Son. Narendra Mandolall also received trophies as being the best batsman in the tournament and man-of-the-match in the final.
The best bowler prize went to Leroy Roopchand. Meanwhile Chairman of the Reliance Sports Committee Trevis Simon during the presentation thanked the teams for participating and encouraged the players to remain disciplined and committed as the club seeks to further promote sports in the community.
The Reliance ground was recently rehabilitated with support from the Anna Regina Town Council and members of the Reliance Sports Club.