… Super Stars, Cavaliers clash for third place
DESPITE the heavy presence of West Indies Test players in  Christopher Gayle, Danza Hyatt and Andre Russell and Trinidad and Tobago’s (T&T) Dwayne Bravo, Universal DVD Club Berbice Titans came away with a one-run victory over Hits and Jams Superstars last Friday night, to book a place in tonight’s final against Georgetown Pitbulls at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence. Earlier in the night, the Christopher Barnwell-led Georgetown Pitbulls whose lineup included Sulieman Benn, Krishmar Santokie, Jerome Taylor and Kieron Pollard overcame the New Line Cavaliers by eight wickets to book their place in the final.
Scores in the matches: New Line Cavaliers 114-8, Georgetown Pitbulls 115-2 off  17.5 overs. Universal DVD Club Titans 150 for 8, Hits and Jams Superstars 149 all out.
But it was the second semi-final which had the spectators, who packed the venue to near capacity, cheering from the first ball to the very last one, as the Royston Crandon-led Titans defended their national T20 crown with pride and dignity on a low and slow track.
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, the Titans were in a spot of bother at 51 for 6 in the 11th over, losing Anthony Bramble (8), Richard Ramdeen (15), Assad Fudadin (10), Devon Clements (7) and skipper Royston Crandon (6).
Last year’s Caribbean T20 batting sensation Jonathan Foo who struck two sixes and the same number of fours from the eight balls he faced for his 22, brought some life back to the innings, while Rajiv Ivan (22) and Veerasammy Permaul, who made an unbeaten 16 with three fours, added some respectability to their team’s innings.
Russell, Leon Johnson and Gayle took two wickets each for 16, 20 and 34 runs respectively for the Superstars who raced to 22 inside the first three overs, as Gayle did not fail to entertain the crowd when he struck both Permaul and Esaun Crandon for huge sixes.
But in his attempt to hit the latter over extra cover, he was deceived by the bounce coming out of the track which had some balls keeping low at times and got a thick outside edge to Clements at extra cover off Esaun Crandon, but not before he had dispatched the bowler into the grass mound two deliveries earlier.
Krishna Deosarran (5) followed shortly after, when he was bowled by Royston Crandon and when West Indies leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo rattled the stumps of Bravo who struck two fours and one six in his 22, followed by the demise of Johnson (2), the Superstars were 52 for 4.
Hyatt came and blazed his way to a top score of 34 that included two sixes and one four before he was caught at the wicket by Bramble off Royston Crandon while Robin Bacchus (11) and Troy Gonsalves were both sent back to the pavilion, leaving the Superstars on 106 for 6.
They needed 19 runs from 18 balls with Russell (13) being joined by his skipper and former national T20 wicketkeeper batsman Tyrell Tull (10) but the former was bowled by Bishoo in the penultimate over, leaving Tull, Raj Nannan and Seon Daniels to score 13 off the final over which was bowled by Brandon Bess.
Even though he bowled a wide ball that went for four off the third ball, the Superstars lost both Tull and Daniels (2) via run-out, to fall short by two runs, handing the Berbicians who had the crowd chanting their name by the 15th over, an exciting and enthralling victory.
Royston Crandon with 3 for 23 and Bishoo 2 for 20 were the principal wicket-takers for the Ancient County team who will challenge the Georgetown Pitbulls for the $2M first prize tonight from 20:00hrs at the same venue.
In the first semifinal, New Line Cavaliers, who had in their lineup the Barbadian trio of Dwayne Smith, Fidel Edwards and Alcindo Holder along with Lendl Simmons from T&T, were limited to 114 for 8 from their 20 overs.
Lendl Simmons led the batting with 41 (3×4, 1×6) and received support from Mahendra Nagamootoo 21 (2×4, 1×6) along with Holder, Wintz and Chein Gittens who made 12, 11 and 10 respectively, while Dwayne Smith was beaten and bowled first delivery by Kellon Carmichael (1-25) without scoring.
Benn and Pollard ended with 3 for 19 and 2 for 6 respectively for the Pitbulls, who despite the absence of their appointed skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan, reached their target with 2.1 overs to spare.
Former West Indies Under-19 opener Trevon Griffith blazed his way to an impressive 46-ball 47 that was decorated with seven fours, before he was brilliantly caught by Smith who had to dive forward at long on, off Andre Percival.
Barnwell 19*, Shemroy Barrington 17 and Steven Jacobs 16* saw their team home without much trouble, even though Percival, who ended with 2 for 19, and Edwards tried desperately to keep the once mighty New Line Cavaliers in the mix.
Today is the final day of action, with the gates opening at 14:00hrs. The action bowls off at 16:00hrs with Hits and Jams Superstars facing New Line Cavaliers for the third place while Pitbulls and Titans, two teams who have provided enthralling and exciting encounters over the past 16 months, do battle for the top position from 20:00hrs.