DEFENDING Champions Headquarters (HQ) failed to hold on to their catches while ‘G’ Division took all of theirs, to record a stunning 25-run victory and take the fourth annual Guyana Police Force (GPF) Inter-Division T20 tournament which culminated at the Police Sports Club ground Eve Leary, yesterday afternoon.

In the third place playoff, ‘A’ Division who were led by Essequibo’s Inter-County off-spinner Jason Heyliger, inflicted a 73-run defeat on ‘C’ Division to take that title after posting 152 for 7 from their 15 overs and bowling out their opponents for 79 from 13.1 overs.
But it was the final which had the crowd, including Acting Commissioner of Police Leroy Brumell and other top officers within the GPF, on the edge of their seats, as the eventual winners took the fight to the defending champions from ball one.
Asked to bat first after they lost the toss, ‘G’ Division staged two dramatic recoveries in their innings and posted 155 for 8 from their 20 overs, thanks to Mustapha Zaman’s 54 and skipper Kwesi Abrams’ 33 against the bowling of Randolph Knights who took 3 for 18.
They returned to bowl out the favoured team for 125 runs, despite Troy Benn’s robust 41 and Munilall Persaud’s pugnacious 17, thanks to the bowling of Aquesi Arthur and Robindra Panesar who took 3 wickets each for 18 and 19 runs respectively.
When ‘G’ Division batted, their opener Ramesh Chattergoon started in a flurry by hitting Keiko Gurrick past mid-on for four, while Zaman struck the same bowler for a four which was followed by a six back over his head, before Rawle Haynes (1-11) knocked back the middle stump of Chattergoon.
Abrams joined Zaman and, as they did in the semifinal against ‘C’ Division, staged a recover by adding 69 for the second wicket, with Zaman who was dropped by Persaud at mid-wicket off Stephan Blacks, hitting the bowler for a six and four in consecutive overs.
Zaman got to his half-century from 42 deliveries, counting three fours and two sixes in the process before he lost Abrams, who was caught at point by Blacks off Knights – a wicket that triggered a collapse in the ‘G’ Division batting lineup.
They went from 101 for 1 in the 13th over, to 119 for 7, as Knights and off-spinner Lyndon Wilson accounted for Zaman, whose 54 took him 47 deliveries to accumulate and was decorated with three fours and two sixes, Fazeer Khan (1), Panesar (0), Chain Dhanraj (0)n and Swain Benn (4).
Roopnarine Ramnarine who was forced to retire hurt on 15 after being struck on the chin by a Blacks full toss and Keron Kumar 17 (2×4, 1×6), added 36 for the eighth wicket to revive their team innings and ensure they ended on 155 for 8.
Wilson supported Knights in the bowling department by taking 2 for 16 from his four overs for HQ, who raced to 56 from 4.5 overs in their reply, as Benn and Persaud went after the bowling in a pugnacious manner.
Fourteen runs were taken off Khan’s first over, after he was struck for three fours by Benn, while an additional 20 came off his second over, as Benn struck him for two fours, followed by two massive sixes over long on.
In-between that cameo, Abrams was struck for two fours by Benn, while Persaud drove Khan along the ground with authority for one of his three fours, before disaster in the form of Arthur struck for HQ.
Benn was bowled middle stump for a 21-ball 41 that included six fours and two sixes and he was quickly followed by Persaud who picked out Khan at point off Panesar.
Knights and Erick Angel added 22 for the third wicket before Knights, who had pulled Arthur over long off for six, was bowled by the same bowler, who also dismissed Blacks (1) in similar fashion, with Dhanraj accounting for Wilton George (1), leaving HQ on 93 for 5 in the 12th over.
Haynes and Angel pushed the score to 112, but as the boundaries dried up after Benn was dismissed, so did HQ’s hopes of retaining the title for the fourth successive year, as Panesar returned to mop up the innings in collaboration with Dhanraj who took 2 for 17, to hand HQ an upset defeat.
In the third place playoff, Heyliger struck five consecutive sixes off Kumar Mangru as he scored a robust 58 from 22 deliveries to steer his team to 152 for 7, receiving support from Robin Browne who made 29 off 17 deliveries with two fours.
Curtis Duncan (3 for 12) along with Mortimer Durant and Mangru who took 2 wickets each for 33 and 47 runs respectively, offered support with the ball, but ‘C’ Division faltered badly against the bowling of Leon Crawford and Travis Withrite who took 2 wickets each for 14 and 21 respectively, and were bowled out for 79.
Only Colin Ross’ 18-ball 21 (3×4) and Sherrito Khan 12 reached double figures while Extras top-scored with 21 for ‘C’ Division, but in the end, it was ‘G’ Division whose upset win over HQ after reaching the final for the first time, that left many with smiles on their faces.
Blacks, Ross, Heyliger, Wilson, Zaman and Arthur were named the man-of-the-match in their respective preliminary rounds and semifinal encounters, while Heyliger picked up the same accolade for the third place and Arthur was named the star-of-the-final.
Added to that, Zaman finished the tournament as the batsman with the Most Runs and Wilson the bowler with the Most Wickets, with all the individual achievers receiving trophies and the finalists a monetary reward of an undisclosed sum.