TORONTO, Canada – The inaugural Toronto Cup, organised by the Ontario Masters Softball Cricket Clubs (OMSCC) climaxed at the picturesque University of Toronto ground here on Sunday with New York Enforcers and Our Own Sports Club emerging as winners in the Open and Masters categories respectively.
On a day picture perfect for cricket and with hundreds of spectators in attendance, New York Enforcers made light work of Dant, defeating the Toronto-based team by seven wickets in what was scheduled to be a hotly contested affair while Our Own won from the Guyana Floodlights Softball Cricket Association (GFSCA) in a closely-fought battle.
Asked to take first strike, after New York Enforcers had won the toss, Dant were bundled out for a paltry 86 in 17.4 overs, much to the disappointment of their partisan supporters.
The New Yorkers reached the required target in 14.1 overs with Vickey Subkaran hitting an unbeaten 35 while Nyal Singh was 15 not out. Anil Mahadeo was Dant’s best bowler with two for 20.
Dant suffered an immediate setback when their innings started, losing the experienced Hemnarine Chattergoon to the very first ball with skipper Anil Beharry uprooting his leg stump. They never fully recovered from the shock, losing wickets rapidly while the fielding of the opposition was quite superb.
Captain Loknauth Ramsuchit hit a top score of 21 which included a six and two fours while Shawn Deonandan (16) and Omar Mohamed (16) were the other players to reach double figures as Beharry finished with the incredible figures of three for five from his four overs. Vickey Sugrim supported with two for 19.
Earlier, the spectators were treated to a more gripping final in the Masters category as Our Own had to pull out all the stops to win an intriguing battle with the GFSCA.
Set 129 for victory after inserting the opposition, Our Own were in a spot of bother at 45 for three at the half-way stage of their innings, losing the key scalps of Jaimini Singh, Sunil Dhaniram and Mohan Harihar. However, sensible batting by Troy Gobin (43 not out) and former Canadian player Desmond Chumney (36) ensured their team’s success.
Gobin, a former Guyana Under-19 batsman struck five fours in his fine knock while skipper Mahendranauth Parasnauth was unbeaten on 15 when victory was achieved with five deliveries to spare at 132 for five.
Uniss Yusuf had given the visitors a blazing start with three towering sixes in his 20 but the loss of early wickets saw the scoring rate take a dip. Captain Rickey Deonarine bolstered the middle order with a top score of 42 with three mighty sixes and a four but the lower order failed to maintain the momentum as the GFSCA finished on 128 for eight at the end of their allotted 20 overs.
Ravi Lutchman hit a six and a four in his 18.
Mohan Singh, who engineered the early damage, captured three for 33 from his four overs while Parasnauth was equally impressive with two for six also from four.
New York Enforcers, who remained the only unbeaten team in the tournament, reached the final after New York Sports Club All Stars forfeited their semi-final encounter while Dant won from GM Sports with former Guyana captain Damodar Daesrath slamming a belligerent unbeaten 85.
Beharry was named man-of-the-match for his brilliant bowling effort in the Open final while Gobin’s unbeaten 43 earned him the man-of-the-match in the Masters category.
The Most Valuable Players award went to Vickey Sookram of New York Enforcers and Richard Driffield of Caribbean Sensation Masters respectively. They received gold bracelets, compliments of Jay’s Jewellers.
Apart from capturing the winning trophy, New York Enforcers were also the recipient of US$3000 while Our Own Sports Club collected US$2500 and the winning trophies. All four teams in the final were also given medals.
The trophies and medals were sponsored by Trophy Stall (Guyana) and on hand to present the winning trophies was the proprietor’s daughter Emma Sunich.
OMSCC president Jai Singh thanked the teams for their participation and his organising committee for the splendid effort for the inaugural tournament.

By Frederick Halley