REIGNING Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company nationwide 10/10 champions, Regal, yesterday underlined their supremacy on the softball stage in Georgetown, when they carted off the Georgetown Softball Cricket League/Digimax Master’s Over-35 and Open titles at the Demerara Cricket Club ground.In the Master’s category, Regal faced Success and defeated them by 51 runs, thanks to a solid all round performance from Man of the Match Khalid Haslim, while Chien Gittens walked away with such honours in the Open category, as Regal XI defeated Wolf Warriors by eight wickets.
Batting first in the Master’s category, Regal posted 162 for 8 from their 20 overs, with Haslim hitting six fours in his 46, receiving solid support from Raymond Harper 30 (3×4, 2×6) and 18 from Samuel Kingston who struck two sixes and one four in his innings.
Dharmendra Mohabir took 4 for 21 for Success Masters, who in their turn at the wicket were bowled out for 111 from 16.4 overs, as only Roy Persaud 28 (2×6, 2×4) and Vijai Baljeet 17 (2×4) had any answer to Haslim who took 3 for 16 in support to Mahendra Hardyal’s 4 for 26.
Wolf Warriors were asked to bat first in the Open finals and after struggling throughout their innings, managed to reach 89 from 11.3 off their 12 overs, before they were bowled out.
Both Azad Azeez and Amir Nizamudin scored 19, with the former hitting two sixes, while Safraz Karim also struck two sixes in his 17, even as Gittens took 3 for 9 and Safraz Esau 3 for 22 for Regal XI, whose reply started positively when Ricardo Adams (08) hit the first delivery from Narine Bailey for six, before he was bowled three balls later.
Esau (01) replaced him and did not last long, but his dismissal brought Gittens and Patrick Rooplall together and they took Regal home to 90 for 2 from 9.3 overs, with Gittens hitting three sixes in his unbeaten 38 while Rooplall had two sixes and the same number of fours in his unbeaten 31.
At the brief presentation ceremony which followed, both Haslim and Gittens received a trophy and undisclosed sum of cash as their Man of the Match awards, while all the four teams collected a trophy and undisclosed sum, for their respective placing.