THANKS to an unbeaten 31 from Wazir Hussein, Speedboat calmly walked away with the top prize in the third annual Winston Murray Memorial 10/10 softball cricket tournament which was contested at the Guyana National Industrial Corporation ground yesterday, following their nine wicket victory over Trophy Stall.Batting first in the contest which was reduced to a four overs affair due to an agreement met by both skippers as a result of fading light, Trophy Stall rattled up what looked like a match winning 62 for 1 from their allotted overs.
Martin Dutchin struck six sixes and two fours in his top score of 49 while Fazal Rafiek made 10, but when Speedboat batted, they scored 64 for 1 from 3.5 overs, thanks to Hussein’s innings which contained three sixes and two fours.
Earlier in the day, Omesh XI, who lost to Speedboat in their semifinal encounter, sent Young Warriors packing from the tournament, so did Hyde Park, Brickery and Regal, who lost their respective first round matches to Farm XI, Speedboat and Trophy Stall in that order.
Batting first, Young Warriors posted 114 for 8 with Marlon Narine 23, S. Jatten 19 and Brian Murray 17 against the bowling of Travis Drakes and Ashmeal Bacchus who took three wickets each for 10 and 20 runs respectively, while Omesh XI cantered to 115 for 1 in reply, thanks to Azad Azeez’s 81 and 19 from Bacchus.
In the second encounter of the day’s action which started late due to early morning showers, Regal posted 126 for 4 with Richard Latiff 32 (3×6, 2×4) and 30 each from Patrick Rooplall and Chien Gittens, with Rooplall hitting three sixes and one four and Gittens the same number of boundaries as Latiff.
Ricardo Adams also chipped in with 14 (2×6) for Regal, who had Trophy Stall reeling on 36 for 6, before Dutchin who struck six sixes and one four in his unbeaten 49, steered them to 128 for 8, receiving support from Randy Ketwaroo who made 19 (2×4, 1×6) as Mohammed Ayume grabbed 4 for 22 for Regal.
Hyde Park were bowled out for 67 by Farm XI, with only U. Armstrong making 22, as Marvin Pearson (3 for 10) and Patrick Khan 2 for 13 did the damage with the ball for Farm XI, who reached 68 for 3 from 6.3 overs, thanks to Avenash Sookdeo’s 46.
In the final quarterfinal encounter, Brickery batted first and made 76 for 6 in their matchup against Speedboat, with F. Wilky 16 and A. Mangar 14 being their principal scorers.
Hussein took 3 for 13 and Peter Alleyne 2 for 6 for Speedboat, who in reply scored 78 for 2 from 4.5 overs, thanks to a pugnacious 46 from Rajendra Kuraj and 20 from Shazim Hussain.
In their semifinal encounter against Omesh XI, Trophy Stall batted first and scored 135 for 4 with Dutchin hitting an unbeaten 39, Surujpaul Deosarran 30 and Wasim Haslim 22, as Omesh Peters took 2 for 20 for Omesh XI< who reached 116 for 5 in reply, with Azad Azeez hitting 25 and Drakes 22, as D. Persaud took 2 for 27 to steer Trophy Stall into the final.
Speedboat took first strike in their semifinal matchup against Farm XI and posted 122 for 8, led by R. Persaud 25 (4×6), Greg Singh 22 (3×6) and 18 from Wazir Hussein that was decorated with two sixes.
Randy Reid took 2 wickets for Farm XI, who were limited to 108 for 4, despite a stubborn 56 from Lennox Marks that included eight sixes and 23 from A. Nash, which failed to prevent Speedboat from earning the win and a place in the final, where they eventually came out victors.
At the brief presentation ceremony, former PNC/R Parliamentarian Aubrey Norton described the late Murray, who prior to his death and before the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic assumed office in 1992 served Guyana in the capacity of Minister of Trade and Tourism and Deputy Prime Minister , as an ardent sports fan.
“Winston Murray grew up in Legaun before journeying to Georgetown where he spent his adulthood, enjoying the ways of life while being an accomplished cricketer, playing the game as an opening batsman.
Many, who knew him, would recall him stepping out the office to witness a cricket game at Bourda or if he is in Barbados, moving away from his duties to watch a game at the Kensington Oval and I wish to say thanks to all the teams who came out here today to show their support to this tournament.”
He added, “Thanks to the sponsors such as Mings Products and Services for this support and to the fans who came to the venue to witness the action, even if they did not understand the game, while I must say a special thanks and heartfelt congratulations to the victorious team.”
Wazir Hussein was named the Best Bowler and Man- of- the- Match in the finals, Azad Azeez the Best Batsman while Trophy Stall took home $50,000 and a trophy and Speedboat $100,000, a trophy and 15 medallions.

(By Calvin Roberts )