DESPTE some belligerent batting from Man-of-the-Match Chandrapaul Hemraj and Derwin Christian, Universal DVD Club Berbice Titans still managed to walk away with an authoritative four-wicket victory over Georgetown Lions, to keep their unbeaten T20 record intact last Sunday night at the Albion Community Centre ground.
The duo were meeting in the final of the second annual Berbice Chamber of Commerce and Industry/Berbice Cricket

Board organised Independence T20 Cup, after disposing of Karibee Rice Berbice Tigers and BK International East Coast Jaguars in their respective semifinal matchup earlier in the day.
It was no surprise when Titans skipper Veerasammy Permaul won the toss and invited his guests to take first strike in the presence of a packed venue – a decision that was vindicated by the early demise of pugnacious opener Trevon Griffith, who was caught on the deep squareleg boundary by Rajiv Ivan off Keon Joseph without scoring, off the first delivery.
Robin Bacchus replaced Griffith and after hitting both Joseph and Eon Hooper for two fours, was run-out in his attempt to steal a cheeky single, courtesy of Permaul’s direct hit from mid on at 15 for 2 in the 3rd over.
Andrew Lyght Jr was joined by his cousin, Guyana and West Indies T20 all-rounder Christopher Barnwell, who recently returned from a maiden stint in this year’s Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL), where he was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), but found it hard to make his debut.
The pair pushed the score to 38, with Lyght, who was dropped by Shimron Hetmyer at extra cover off Sewnarine Chattergoon when on 5 in the 4th over, hitting an aggressive and lively Joseph for two fours, while Barnwell also struck Chattergoon for four and a big six over long on.
However, when Lyght Jr was questionably given out lbw to Chattergoon for 15 (3×4), the Lions who at the end of the Power Play were 38 for 3, slipped to 46 for 5 some 3.5 overs later, losing the wickets of Barnwell who was bowled by Permaul for 15 (1×6, 1×4) and their skipper Leon Johnson for 5.
At this stage, a resilient Hemraj was joined by Christian and together they went about ‘Operation Recovery’ for their team, with disdain, adding 109 for the sixth wicket from 8.1 overs, as the latter hit Devendra Bishoo for a hat-trick of sixes and a four off consecutive deliveries in one over, realising his 50 with the second six.
Hemraj refused to be left out of the boundary-hitting act, as he cashed in with sixes off both Bishoo and Gajanand Singh, before seeing the demise of Christian who was caught at long leg by Ivan off Bishoo for his 27-ball 61 that included five sixes and four fours, an innings that received a round of applause from his teammates, as he made his way into the pavilion, at 155 for 6.
After Christian’s dismissal, Hemraj found a useful ally in Troy Gonsalves (4*) with whom he added 29 from the final two overs, with his final score being an unbeaten 66 scored off 30 balls with five sixes and three fours.
Eon Hooper, who removed the prized wicket of Johnson after the left-hander was controversially given out lbw to a delivery pitched outside leg stump, was the best bowler for the Titans, ending with 1 for 17, before he saw Chattergoon and Hetmyer race to 72 without loss from 5.4 overs in their team’s reply.
The aggressive start from the home team saw 21 taken off the first over bowled by Paul Wintz, which included two free hits that were struck for maximums by Hetmyer, while Chattergoon also struck Shaquille Williams for a six and a four in the second over of his team’s innings.
Barnwell replaced Wintz and was pulled for four by Hetmyer, who was forced to survive a loud and confident appeal for a catch at the wicket by Christian off the next delivery, despite getting a thick outside edge, much to the dismay of the Lions on and off the field.
It took the part-time bowling of Johnson to remove both openers, with Hemraj taking the catch at short third man to account for Hetmyer 33 (25 balls, 2×6, 2×4), while Christian’s lightning fast glovework sent Chattergoon back to the pavilion for 25 (11 balls, 2×6; 2×4) at 72 for 2 in the 6th over.
Singh and Assad Fudadin pushed it to 129 in the 12th over, before Singh was bowled by Johnson for 27 (15 balls, 2×4, 2×6) with Fudadin following him two overs later, caught at the wicket by Christian off Bacchus for 28 (19 balls, 2×4, 1×6), with the Titans 136 for 4.
Ivan and Jonathan Foo pushed the score to 166, before Foo was caught by Johnson at short cover off Griffith for 20 (14 balls, 3×4), but the writing was already on the wall for the Georgetown Lions, who got a bonus wicket when Williams bowled Delbert Hicks for 7 at 180 for 6 in the 17th over.
Ivan and Permaul sealed the win, with Ivan hitting two fours from the 11 deliveries he faced for his unbeaten 19, while Permaul did not open his account, as the Titans reached 185 for 6 from 18 overs, despite Johnson’s 3 for 30.
Earlier in the day overnight rain made the organisers reduce the first two matches to 15 overs aside. Karibee Rice Tigers who won the toss and opted to take first strike against the Titans were limited to 92 for 8.
Kandasammy Surujnarine led their batting with 34 (38 balls, 2×6) and received support from Jason Sinclair who was unbeaten on 15 (1×6,1×4) and Keith Fraser 15 which included two sixes struck off Bishoo over extra cover and square leg respectively.
Permaul and Bishoo took two wickets each for 14 and 29 runs respectively for the Titans, who, in reply reached 97 for 1 from 12.1 overs to complete the win by nine wickets, thanks to Chattergoon’s unbeaten 65 (44 balls, 6×4, 3×6) and Fudadin 29 not out (2×6).
Michael Newland took the lone wicket to fall for the Titans, that of Richard Ramdeen, who was caught by his younger brother Kevin at cover off the first delivery without scoring, to end with 1 for 10 from his two overs.
In the second semifinal matchup, BK International East Coast Jaguars batted first and were limited to 100 for 4 with Anthony Ifill-who was struck in the head by Bacchus and was rushed to the Port Mourant Hospital for observation – top-scoring with an unbeaten 33 (2×4, 1×6).
Surujpaul Deosarran supported Ifill with his unbeaten 28 (17 balls) with three sixes struck off Bacchus, Barnwell and Chien Gittens respectively, as he added 37 for the fifth wicket with Ifill, while his elder brother Krishna Deosarran made 19 with two fours.
The Lions in their reply, lost both Griffith (4) and Johnson (6) to be 11 for 2, but Barnwell and Lyght Jr came out in voracious mode, tearing into the Jaguars’ bowling attack like a pride of lions, hitting sixes all over the ground.
The two matched each other shot for shot, but it was Barnwell who won the battle as he displayed to the crowd the batting attitude that handed Guyana their semifinal win over regional nemesis Jamaica in this year’s Caribbean T20 Championships.
He was given a life at long on when on 15 off Surujpaul Deosarran and said thank you by hitting the same bowler for three maximums over the same area, with each six going further than the previous one.
All told, he struck six sixes after being given the life, in his unbeaten 49 which was scored off 24 deliveries while Lyght struck four maximums, including a big one off Emran Khan that sailed over long off and prompted a ball change, as he was unbeaten on 38 (16 balls) when the Lions reached 106 for 2 from 8.5 overs.
At the simple presentation ceremony that followed, Hetmyer received a gift from Universal Sports for being the Youngest Player, Hemraj for his Man-of-the-Match and Best Batsman and Johnson for Best Bowler.
While the Jaguars and Tigers were given special prizes for their participation, the Lions received $150 000, a trophy and medallions for their runner-up efforts and the Titans, $300 000, trophy and medallions as victors, with Trophy Stall providing the trophies and medallions.