… Lewis blazes ton in semis
A HEROIC effort from Malteenoes Sports Club (MSC) skipper and man-of-the-match Neil Barry was all that was needed to ensure his side took the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA)-organised, Guyana Beverages Company-sponsored Busta Twenty20 title yesterday.

The victorious Malteenoes Sports Club team strike a pose in near darkness with, from left, president of the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) Alfred Mentore, secretary Shalim Baksh, Guyana Beverages Company managing director Robert Selman (centre) and marketing manager Shameiza Yadram (left). (Photo by Carl Croker)

Winning the toss and opting to take first strike, Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC) were restricted to 149-7 from their 20 overs, with Ranole Bourne, who struck three sixes off Daniel Gravesande in his 22-ball 45, leading the batting.

Jermaine Grovesnor also contributed a run-a-ball 25 which was decorated with two fours and a five while skipper Orlando Fraser, who added 46 for the third wicket from 4.3 overs with Bourne, chipped in with 20 which included one six.

Edwin Burnette took 4-29 for MSC, who replied with 153-6 from 17.1 overs, thanks to Barry’s pugnacious 51 which took him 20 deliveries to compile as he touched the ropes four times and cleared it a similar number of times.

He was in such a destructive mood that he took 24 runs – 4, 6, 4, 4, 6 – from successive deliveries off Quincy Ovid Richardson, just after replacing Shawn Holder who was bowled by Fraser for 20 made off 21 deliveries with two fours and one maximum.

That explosive over from Barry brought his team back into the game and even though he was dismissed with just one run to go, Gravesande ensured his efforts did not go in vain, when he pulled a waist-high full toss from Grovesnor in near darkness to wide long-on for four to seal the win with 2.5 overs to go.

Earlier, Danny Narayan, who had added 49 for the second wicket with Shaquille Williams 33 (6×4, 1×5) after Troy Lewis was caught at long-on by Richardson off Grovesnor for six, made a resilient 29 off 36 balls with one four, before he picked out Cylus Gibson at long-on off Fraser.

In the first semifinal, defending champions Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) opted to bat first on winning the toss and reached 172-5, after being 98-2 from 10 overs, but Lewis’ 47-ball 102 was the talk of the numerous spectators gathered for the remainder of the day.

Ellon Fernandes led the former champions batting with 55 (4×6, 3×4) and received support from Ricardo Jadunauth 35 (5×4, 1×6), Jeetendra Sookdeo 28 (3×4, 2×6) and Treon Forde 20 (2×4) against the bowling of national Under-19 fast bowler Seon Daniels who took 2-37 from his four overs for MSC.

The Thomas Lands-based MSC’s reply got off to a disastrous start, as they lost three quick wickets for six runs, before former national middle order batsman Neil Barry (20) joined forces with Lewis who scored 102 from 49 balls with 12 sixes and four fours and they set about Operation Recovery, with Lewis being the more aggressive.

Four sixes off Gavin Singh’s third over, realised MSC’s 50 from six overs, while Lewis, who was given a life by Forde and Sookdeo in successive overs bowled by Singh and Forde, reached his half-century with a six over long on off Jadunauth.

It took him 30 balls to compile and was decorated with six maximums and three boundaries, but after reaching that stage, he opened his shoulders and only needed 17 more deliveries to reach his ton, adding another six sixes and one four in the process.

His final six, struck over extra cover on bended knees, off Jadunauth, brought up his ton and at the same time, set tongues wagging, before he holed out to Ellon Fernandes at deep cover two balls later without any addition to his or his team’s total.

At his demise, MSC were 121-4, but they got home safely by four wickets and with one ball to spare, thanks to the efforts of Gravesande who finished unbeaten on 38 (4×4, 2×6), as MSC extracted sweet revenge, having lost last year finals to the same opponents.

In the second semifinal between GNIC and Everest Cricket Club (ECC), the latter who was asked to take first strike by their opponents humbly obliged and scored 150-7 from their 20 overs, with Ejaz Mohammed leading the way with an unbeaten 59 which was decorated with four fours and three sixes from 4o deliveries.

Fraser’s 24 (3×4; 1×6) and Jason Melville’s 22 which included four fours, offered support to Mohammed even though Christopher Surat and Dennis Mangru took two wickets each for 19 and 23 respectively for ECC.

Wickets fell regularly for ECC when they began their reply after witnessing Lewis’ destructive batting display against GCC and they fell for 109 from 16.5 overs, with Christopher Patadin who struck Fraser for three maximums in the first over, top-scoring with 23.

Khemraj Ramdeen 19 (4×4) and David Harper 12 (2×4) were the other batsmen to reach double figures, as Bourne proved to be a destructive element with the ball in hand, claiming 5-20 from 3.5 overs while Grovesnor took 3-24.

At the simple presentation ceremony which followed, president of the GCA Alfred Mentore thanked the sponsors, players, spectators and umpires for making the
tournament a successful one, while managing director of Guyana Beverages Company Robert Selman offered similar sentiments.

He also praised the GCA for culminating a wonderful tournament with a magnificent final day which was incident-free and played in the best interest of the game. He stated that the GBC’s parent company S. M. Jaleel has donated three containers of food, clothing and water to Haiti and promised to make this year’s tournament a better one.