CB/DIGICEL Summer Smash T20 tourney
WEST Indies Under-19 opener Trevon Griffith struck a patient but important 37-ball 47 at the Uitvlugt Community Centre ground, to guide Georgetown Flex Text to a tense two-wicket victory over East Coast’s Flex Check in the final preliminary round match in the Demerara zone of the Guyana Cricket Board/Digicel Summer Smash T20 tournament yesterday.
Winning the toss and asking their opponents to take first strike, Flex Text, whose bowling was led by national all-rounder Steven Jacobs, who grabbed 2-24 with his off spin, reduced the opposition to 118-5 from their allotted overs.
Griffith then returned to watch wickets tumble at the other end which left the Flex Text team in a spot of bother at 39-5 in the 14th over, but he kept a level head to blast four sixes and one four in his innings, which took them to 119-8 from 19.3 overs.
In the Flex Check innings, former national opening batsman Krishna Arjune struck Trevon Garraway and Jacobs over long on for his three sixes, after his team was shakily placed on 39-2 in the 10th over.
They had lost both Christopher Patadin (5) and the pugnacious Wasim Haslim (7) to Jacobs, before Arjune and Ryan Ramdass 22 (2×6) added 14 for the third wicket, with Ramdass hitting Dion Ferrier over midwicket for his two sixes.
Flex Check lost Arjune via run-out, with the batsman injuring his knee in the process, but Ramdass, who was later run-out after he failed to beat a throw from Shemroy Barrington, stationed at deep midwicket, added 24 for the fourth wicket with his skipper Zaheer Mohammed who top-scored with 35.
Mohammed turned on the heat on the City side in the penultimate over of the innings, when he struck Garraway over long on for six to raise his team’s 100 off the first ball of the penultimate over.  
Two more sixes over long off and wide midwicket off Christopher Barnwell in the final over, brought his teammates to life, before he lost his middle stump to a slower delivery two balls later.
When Flex Text began their reply, they were met by an all-spin attack led by Mohammed, Ramdass, Imran Khan, Videsh Lall and former youth off-spinner-cum-footballer Clive Andries, to which they struggled.
They were held to 23-2 at the halfway stage of their innings, with both Barnwell (1) who holed out to long on and Barrington (1) who was trapped lbw, falling to Lall who ended with 2-19 from his four overs.
Skipper Leon Johnson who has been in fine form on this format of the game, entered the fray but laboured to 13 made off 32 deliveries, before he was smartly stumped by Tyrell Tull off Mohammed at 30-3 in the 12th over.
Prior to his dismissal, he had stood at the other end and watched as Griffith got his team’s first boundary, when he reverse-swept Mohammed’s first delivery to backward square leg for four.
National wicketkeeper batsman Darwin Christian replaced Johnson and pulled Andries’ final delivery of a disciplined spell to the vacant midwicket boundary for four, before he had a rush of blood and picked out substitute fielder Ellon Fernandes at midwicket off Ramdass.
At 38-4 in the 14th over, those who gathered at the ground were singing the blues for Flex Text and had more reason to do so, when Ferrier struck the first delivery he faced from Ramdass, straight to Mohammed at extra cover, giving the bowler a double strike.
A composed looking Griffith rode those stormy waters and together with Troy Gonsalves 13 (1×4, 1×6), added a quick-fire 31 from 3.5 overs, with the former hitting Lall over wide midwicket for a six, while the latter joined in to hit the same bowler over long on in the over, as they took 14 runs from it.
Griffith was not through, as he proceeded to display why he is arguably the best youth batsman around with two more sixes off Ramdass in the 16th over that went for 21 runs to put his team back in the reckoning.
He lost Gonsalves who was caught by Haslim off Surespaul Deosarran, but proceeded to hit Khan over long off for six, to push his team to 82-5, before he was bowled by the same bowler for a well played 47.
His demise left Flex Text needing 29 from their final two overs and Garraway displayed his ability to hit the ball hard, when he struck Mohammed over long on for six, while Ravi Sarwan struck Mohammed for back-to-back sixes, with the first one realising the team’s 100 in the 19th over.
They commenced the final over, needing seven to win and achieved same without any bother, with Sarwan being unbeaten on 17 made off six deliveries with two sixes, while Garraway made an unbeaten 8 from three deliveries.  
Deosarran, Lall and Ramdass all ended with two wickets each for 12, 19 and 23 runs respectively.