FOLLOWING an exciting day of action at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground yesterday, the semifinalists of the female category followed by three teams in the male category has been decided in the inaugural Kares Engineering and Bushy Park Sawmills-sponsored nationwide 10/10 tapeball tournament.
The Pitbulls, Albion Cricket Club and Invaders have all booked their place in the male semifinals while on the distaff side, 4R Lioness, Mike’s Wellwoman, Rose Hall Town Metro and Trophy Stall XI have made it to the final four. Despite defeating Cotton Tree Die Hard in their quarterfinal matchup which was also played yesterday, Dyna’s Bravados have found themselves in a hot spot, having played unregistered players in the match, leaving the Guyana Softball League to make a decision on the outcome of such an act.
In the first match of the day, Invaders batted first against Firelinks and made an imposing 114 for 5 from their 10 overs, with Ganesh Narine top-scoring with 61 (5×6, 4×4) and Harrinarine Bissoondyal 26 (2×4, 1×6).
When Firelinks batted, they fell short by 31 runs after being restricted to 83 for 7, even though Imtiaz Ali and Ariel Hussain contributed 26 and 25 respectively against the bowling of Amir Mahmood and Khemraj Ramsundar who took two wickets each for 15 and 29 runs respectively.
The Pitbulls, whose lineup included West Indies T20 selectee Derwin Christian and all-rounder Christopher Barnwell, batted first in their encounter against Cotton Field Wild Oats from Essequibo and scored a mammoth 123 for 4 before recording a comfortable 43-run victory.
Barnwell top-scored with 47 (4×4, 3×6), Christian added 30 (3×6, 2×4) despite being given two lives off successive balls and Trevon Griffith an unbeaten 22 which was scored in the final over and included three sixes.
N. Madholall and his younger brother Shivanand Madholall both scored unbeaten knocks of 29 and 24, with the former hitting five fours while the latter struck two sixes and one four for Cotton Tree who were held to 80 for 5 from their 10 overs in their reply.
Even though they contested their quarterfinal match against Young Warriors from Leguan without the services of Narsingh Deonarine, the Veerasammy Permaul-led Albion Cricket Club lineup still chalked up a comfortable eight-wicket victory with six overs to spare.
Young Warriors batted first and reached 53 for 6 with Simon Persaud (16), Aseeb Khan 14 and Marlon Narine 12 being the only batsmen to reach double figures as Harrinarine Chattergoon took 3 for 12 for Albion, who reached 54 for 2 from 4 overs in reply, thanks to Chattergoon’s unbeaten 21 (2×6, 1×4).
Chien Gittens struck three sixes and one four in his 33 and along with Earl Gilkes’ 26 and Nigel Estriado’s 21, piloted Dyna’s Bravados to 103 for 4 in the final match of the day against Cotton Tree Die Hard, for whom Keith Fraser took 2 for 21.
Asked to score at just under 11 runs per over, Cotton Tree Die Hard raced to 28 without loss from the first two, before limping to 75 for 4 at the end of 10, with Pooran Persaud hitting an unbeaten 25 (3×6), Fraser 22 (3×6) and Romain Budhram 18.
However, officials from the GSL who were present at the venue including secretary, Leonard Harriprashad, observed that both sides contested the fixture with unregistered players, and after making an on-the-spot decision to expel both teams from the tournament rescinded same and will make an announcement sometime today with regard to the fourth semifinalist in the male category.
On the distaff side, Mike’s Wellwoman defeated Rising Star by nine wickets when they scored 59 for 1 thanks to Abena Parker’s unbeaten 37 (3×6, 3×4) in reply to their opponents’ 56 of which Roshanna Harper made 16 with two sixes.
Guyana and West Indies wicketkeeper/batter June Ogle-Thomas struck six fours in her 30 while Kavita Yadram made 19 as Trophy Stall XI scored 76-6 from 8.3 overs, after restricting Karibee Strikers for 75 from their 10 overs with Tenessa Leonard top-scoring (28) against the bowling of Nikita Toney (3-14) and Angela Waldron who took 2 for 15.
In the other completed female encounter, 4R Lioness scored 102 for 6 from 10 overs with Chandrani Mahadeo leading all scorers with 40 (4×6, 2×4) and received support from Lashauna Toussaint who made 20 (3×4, 1×6).
All Star Conquerors were limited to 78 for 8 in reply. Annazette Carew made 29 (4×4) against the bowling of Anita Ramdeo who took 2 for 15 for the victorious 4R Lioness, while Rose Hall Town Metro female lineup got an easy path to the final four after their opponents Gas XI did not turn up with a full team.
The final four of the male and female categories along with the finals of the school teams – both male and female –  will be contested at the Guyana National Stadium next Sunday, followed by a giga concert featuring Jamaican Grammy artiste Shaggy.