TORONTO, Canada — After dominating the tournament for several years and bowing out to the eventual winners Guyana Sports Club in last year’s semi-finals, Our Own rebounded to cart off the Ontario Masters Softball Cricket Clubs (OMSCC) 2017 Champions Trophy in dramatic fashion at the St Bede’s ground, Scarborough here, recently.

Set 142 for victory, after opponents East Coast Hustlers were limited to a challenging 141 for seven in their allotted 20 overs, Our Own huffed and puffed their way to 142 for six in 19.5 overs, earning victory with the penultimate delivery of the match which was witnessed by what some described as the largest crowd in the history of the tournament.
Needing 11 off the final over, bowled by Ravendra Mandolall, Our Own lost top-scorer Hemnarine Chattergoon (32) and Bobby Parasnauth before the latter’s brother Jesh Parasnauth kept cool to deliver a stunning win, much to the delight of Our Own players and their ardent supporters.

The win meant East Coast Hustlers once again had to settle for the runner-up spot after going down to Guyana Sports Club in last year’s final, played at the same venue.
Opener Chattergoon, who has been quite consistent during the season, kept the innings together with another sensible batting display, sharing in three vital stands, adding 35 for the second wicket with Desmond Chumney after losing his opening partner Sunil Dhaniram early.
Chattergoon, who was later adjudged the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for Our Own, also added a further 47 for the fourth wicket with Ian Baldeo (20) and 30 for the fifth wicket with Azeemul Haniff whose contribution was 18.

Bowling for East Coast Hustlers, Aftab Shamshudeen claimed two for 19 while there was one wicket each for Eon Katchay, Avinash Singh, Rishi Singh and Abdool Azeez.
Earlier, East Coast Hustlers were led by Abinash Narayan Singh whose top score of 36 included two sixes and a four while Mandolall struck four fours in his 29. Shamshudeen (19) and Katchay (13) also lent support as Jesh Parasnauth ended with two for 19, Satrohan Balkarran one for eight and Mohan Singh one for 21. Narayan Singh copped the MVP award.

At the presentation ceremony, OMSCC president Azeem Khan lauded the efforts of the participating teams and the commitment shown throughout the season. The OMSCC presentation dinner and dance is set for Saturday, November 18. (Frederick Halley)