… Defending champs take Consolation title

By Frederick Halley

TORONTO, Canada – It wasn’t an easy road to the final, but after conquering the top teams on their way to the last two, Dant had no intention of letting the Caribbean Sensation 10/10 trophy slip from their grasp. Last Saturday, they displayed their undoubted superiority with a 12-run triumph over rivals Better Hope to reclaim the crown which they had relinquished last season as the Ontario Softball Cricket League staged its annual Family Day.

In a fiercely contested game, played at Ashtonbee Number One ground, Dant restricted Better Hope to an insufficient 86 for four in their allotted 10 overs after they had reached a challenging 98 for seven, batting first.
The Consolation final saw last year’s winners Caribbean Sensation easily defeat East Coast by eight wickets on the Number Two ground.
Led by an excellent opening stand of 52 from Asif Esoof (19) and Amit Arjun, Better Hope looked set to upset the favourites but once the two were separated, the run rate ground to a sudden halt, compounded by the loss of two wickets in the seventh over from Anil Mahadeo. His scalp included experienced skipper Sunil Ramkisson who failed to score. The other wickets went to Satrohan ‘Blade’ Balkarran and Damodar Daesrath.
Dant were earlier indebted to opener Hemnarine Chattergoon who hit a top score of 26, an innings which included three fours and which also earned him the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for his team.
Better Hope’s best bowlers were Ramkissoon and MVP Rakesh Ramoutar who claimed two for 10 and 22 respectively.
On their way to the knockout final, Dant disposed of Caribbean Sensation, Rems, Sunshine – all top teams in the OSCL.
The Consolation final never lived up to its billing as Caribbean Sensation made light work of East Coast after limiting their opponents to 86 for four in 10 overs and rushing to victory in the ninth over, losing just two wickets.
Opener Rishi ‘Anil’ Samuel was in a no-nonsense mood, slamming one six and four fours in an 11-ball 26 while MVP Reyaz Prahalad was unbeaten on 21 when victory was achieved.
When East Coast batted they were led by scores of 29 and 25 respectively from Rakesh Dyal and Krishna Deosarran.
The All Stars game that followed the two finals proved to be the most exciting of the lot with the Conference A combination winning from Conference B from the penultimate delivery of the final over by one wicket in the 15-over affair.
Zakir Khan proved the unsung hero, batting at number 11, his unbeaten nine, which included a brilliant on-drive for four, from the first five balls proving to be the difference between winning and losing.
Set 115 for victory, after Conference B had reached 114 for four in their 15 overs, Conference A were rattled after their top order was sent packing. However, the experienced Munniram Karran (31) skipper Ian Baldeo (16) and MVP Mahendranauth ‘Bobby’ Parasnauth (11 not out) kept them in the game before Khan’s last over heroics. Extras also played a huge part with 53, the majority coming through wides. Devanand Ramsawak was Conference B best bowler with two for 16.
The Conference A and B teams were managed by OSCL executives Ranjan Persaud and Vish Jadunauth respectively.

OSCL president Albert Ramcharran, in his address at the presentation ceremony, complimented sponsor Harri Sukhu on his wonderful gesture and also congratulated the participating teams, especially those who had reached the final stages.
Sukhu, in turn, was loud in his praise of the efforts of the executives of the OSCL who he said were doing an excellent job to keep the grassroots sport alive in Ontario. This year marked the second of the three years of sponsorship promised by Sukhu and the OSCL is looking forward to an even longer association with the Caribbean Sensation long-standing president.
With the completion of the 10/10 tournament, the action now centres on the Norman Sue 15-over competition and the regular season 20-over games with Dant, who are unbeaten in both. They are confident they can repeat their debut season (2014) unprecedented performance when they captured all the titles that were up for grabs.