… ECCJ humiliate G’town Pitbulls
THANKS to two pugnacious innings from Jonathan Foo and Royston Crandon, current Twenty20 champions, Universal DVD Club Berbice Titans, reigned supreme to take the third annual Arrival Day Committee (ADC) one-day T20 Festival at the Albion Sports Club ground on Sunday.
More surprisingly to the over 3 000 fans gathered at the venue, East Coast Carib Jaguars (ECCJ) humiliated a star-studded Georgetown Pitbulls unit in their semi-final encounter, before they too were humiliated by the Titans in the final.
In the first semi-final, Foo smashed a whirlwind 44-ball unbeaten 105 that was decorated with seven fours and a similar number of sixes and, along with Farouk Hussein’s 39 (4×4, 1×6), took the Titans to 232-6 from their 20 overs against Blairmont Blazers.
Foo and Hussain added 81 for the second wicket, after Anthony Bramble 19 (4×4) was caught on the long on boundary off Junior France (1-38), but not before he struck Pooran Persaud for a hat-trick of boundaries off successive deliveries in the third over of his team’s innings.
Despite the flurry of boundaries flowing off Foo’s bat, Waqar Hassan took 3-43 to ensure the Titans did not reach the 300 mark, after they were 153-2 at the end of 14 overs, having earlier raced to 101-1 from 8.5 overs.
Controlled bowling from the Titans spinners, led by skipper Royston Crandon who took 3-10 and Foo’s 2-16, restricted the Blazers to 85-9 from their 20 overs, with only Romain Boodram showing some resistance with 32 that included three sixes and one four, as the champs secured an easy 147-run victory.
In the ECCJ/Georgetown Pitbulls encounter, the former won the toss and invited their opponents whose lineup included skipper Leon Johnson, Christopher Barnwell, Shemroy Barrington and Paul Wintz, all national players in their own rights, to take first strike.
Two quick blows by Imran Khan who took 2-11, accounted for both Barnwell (2) and Barrington (4) and despite a 39-run third-wicket partnership between Johnson (23) and Robin Bacchus 26 (3×4), along with Jamal Hinckson’s late order 33 (2×4), the Pitbulls faltered and were bowled out for 115.
Kumar Bishundial and skipper Zaheer Mohammed took three wickets each for 17 and 23 runs respectively to support Khan’s top order strikes for ECCJ who reached 119-8 from 19.2 overs in reply, thanks to Troy Gonsalves’ unbeaten 38 (4×4, 1×6).
Wasim Haslim 31 (5×4, 1×6) and Somnauth Bharat 20 (3×4) had earlier added 50 for the first wicket from 7.2 overs, but four needless run-outs including the wicket of Mohammed (5) saw the Jaguars slip to 86-6 in the 16th over.
But Gonsalves steadied the nerves of his teammates by hitting Totaram Bishun for a maximum over long on, followed by an authoritative drive through extra cover off Wintz in the penultimate over to steer his side home, with left-arm spinner Raj Nanan taking 2-19 for the Pitbulls.
While Foo stole the spotlight in the first match of the day, it was Crandon who took over things in the final which was reduced to 12 overs-a-side due to time, hitting a robust 54 off 20 deliveries with five sixes and three fours as the Titans reached an imposing 155-4.
Rajiv Ivan, who recently returned from a successful stint in Trinidad and Tobago, offered support with a belligerent unbeaten 41 that took him 20 balls, decorated with four fours and two sixes, while Bramble made 21 at the top of the innings.
Crandon was severe on Mohammed (0-36), hitting him for 6, 6, 4, 6, 2, 1 in an over as he showed no mercy to the Jaguars’ bowling lineup, who look jaded after being asked to take the field a mere five minutes after completing their enthralling win over the Pitbulls.
Haslim and Christopher Patadin both made 18, with Haslim hitting four fours in his innings, but it was not enough to prevent the Titans from charging to a heartening 85-run win and at the same time, holding on to the tag of national T20 champions, after taking same from the New Line Cavaliers.