FORMER Guyana and West Indies right-arm leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo was adjudged triple prize-winner at  the end of the second DJ Stress T20 festival which was held at the Albion Community Centre ground Berbice on Sunday July 5.

The 33-year-old Nagamootoo who also holds the record for the most wickets in Regional cricket, will be rewarded for the most wickets (7-41 from 8 overs) as well as the best bowling figures in a match (4-7), as he helped guide champions New Line Cavaliers to their second DJ Stress T20 title.

Nagamootoo’s performances with the ball in his team’s two matches ensured he walked away with the Most Valuable Player (MVP) as well as the man-of-the-match awards in both matches played by his team in the day’s proceedings, which had a first prize of $500 000 and a trophy, compliments of GT&T’s Cellink. The organisers had a well-run tournament and provided trophies and cash prizes to the various winners.

With Gizmos and Gadgets offering $1 000 for every six struck in the one-day festival, they will have to shell out $26 000 with West Berbice’s Romain Budhram being the major beneficiary, having cleared the boundary on six occasions including five in one match against Corentyne.

His teammate and opening partner Karamdat Bissoondial emulated him, when he also struck five against the same opponents in his top score of 68, which will earn him the best individual score by a batsman.

Budhram will walk away with the best batsman overall award after accumulating 104 runs with scores of 66 and 38, with the former coming against Poonai’s Pharmacy Corentyne during his opening partnership of 117 from 12.3 overs with Bissoondial, as they steered their team to a comfortable three-wicket victory.

New Amsterdam/Canje Tigers’ Farouk Hussein stunning catch on the deep midwicket boundary, which accounted for Cavaliers’ pugnacious opening batsman Andrew Lyght Jr in his team’s first game, was enough to earn him the best catch of the day, even though his team lost the match.

All in all, cricket-starved fans in the Ancient County were treated to a good day of the gentleman’s game, with a total of 804 runs being scored in the three matches from 114.2 overs, with 408 of those coming in boundaries, as 26 sixes and 63 fours were struck.

The first match of the day between West Berbice Super Kings and Poonai’s Pharmacy Corentyne provided the spectacle for those gathered in the stands, as 26 fours and 18 sixes were struck in a combined total of 344 runs from 39.4 overs, with Corentyne scoring 170-6 from their 20 overs, to which West Berbice replied with 174-7 from 19.4 overs.

That game also provided the most runs and boundaries struck in one match, as national players, middle order batsman Homchand Pooran (Corentyne) and fast bowler Brandon Bess (West Berbice), struck five DJ Stress maximums between them, in addition to the feats of Bissoondial and Budhram.

The men of the match for the three matches are: Romain Budhram (first semifinal), Mahendra Nagamootoo (second semifinal and the final).

The presentation of prizes won during the one day festival which was first played at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, on Labour Day (May 1) and promises to be an annual affair, will be held Thursday night at NCN, Berbice (Channel 15).

The organizer, who would be making several charitable donations to organisations in Berbice, would like to thank Cellink, Sterling Products Limited, Banks DIH Limited, Gizmos and Gadgets, Universal DVD Club, Poonai’s Pharmacy, Trophy Stall Bourda Market, Demerara Bank (Rose Hall), NCN Berbice, Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) and Dr Walter Singh.

Special thanks to Renwick Batson, Imran Hamid of Imran and Daughters, Raymond Haniff from Guysuco and Mr Jaffaraly from NCN, whilst as they did when they defeated Gizmos and Gadgets Georgetown Pitbulls in the first DJ Stress T20 festival, New Line Cavaliers will be donating their first place winnings to charitable organisations in the Ancient County.