By Frederick Halley

TORONTO, Canada — It was billed as the clash of the titans, but in the end it turned out to be a “damp squib” as Dant cemented their position as the number one team in the Ontario Softball Cricket League (OSCL) with a crushing seven-wicket victory over Sunshine in the second edition of the Norman Sue Bakery sponsored 15-over final at the Ashtonbee ground here on Saturday last.Set the modest task of scoring 82 for victory, after inserting and limiting their opponents to an insufficient 81 for nine in their allotted overs, Dant rushed to the required total in 11.3 overs, losing three wickets, with former Guyana captain Damodar Daesrath unbeaten on 21;thereby claiming the Conference A title.

The outcome was never in doubt with Sunshine skipper Mahendranauth “Bobby” Parasnauth admitting at the presentation ceremony that his team had “failed to bring their A game” into the day’s final,following their win over the same opponents the previous weekend in a regular season contest.
Sunshine never got going after batting first, failing to get any substantial partnerships and losing wickets at regular intervals. The only player to reach double figures was Imran Ali,whose 33 included one six and a solitary four;an innings that earned the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for his team. Extras tallied 23.
The ever-green Satrohan’Blade’ Balkarran rolled back the years in a devastating three-over spell, claiming an incredible three for four, earning the MVP award for Dant,while Shawn Deonandan supported with three for 12, also from three and Aftab “Hurricane Maxi” Shamsudeen one for 11.
There were few alarms when Dant replied,and apart from Daesrath’s top score, extras were again in the limelight, totalling an innings high 29. There was one wicket each for Parasnauth, Anil Etwaroo and Azam Haniff;for eight, nine and 14 runs respectively.
With this victory, Dant remained on course to make a clean sweep of this season’s championships, a feat they achieved in their debut season (2014),but which they relinquished in 2015. They have already carted off the Caribbean Sensation sponsored 10/10 tournament and are well on course to capture the regular season (20-over) competition.
Dant’s skipper Looknauth Ramsuchit made it clear that his side is definitely on the hunt to achieve the “triple”,pointing out that they are still disappointed with their performance last year and is extremely confident of more success as the season approaches its conclusion.

Apart from pointing out that his side didn’t perform to expectations,Parasnauth also gave credit to Dant, admitting they were “the better team on the day.”
Speaking on behalf of the sponsors, Kim Sue assured that the sponsorship was intended to keep the grassroot game alive in Toronto,and her company was proud to be part of that success. She congratulated both teams while alluding to the fact that the real winner was cricket.
OSCL president Albert Ramcharran also showered praises on the teams for reaching the final as well as on those who had participated.He also thanked the sponsors for their contribution.