AN unbeaten half-century by former Essequibo senior inter-county player Elroy Stephney steered Reliance Masters to a 4-wicket victory over Supenaam Warriors in the first round of the South Essequibo Invitational T20 competition played last Sunday at the Reliance ground.

Blessed with brilliant sunshine and a lush green outfield, Supenaam Warriors won the toss and opted to bat. They started disastrously losing their first three batsmen with only 15 runs on the board as seamer Basil Persaud was unplayable with his late swing.
However, a commanding 85-run partnership between Sherwin Richards and Rafiq Mohamed brought stability to the innings as the Warriors clawed their way back into the game.
Richards played beautifully (5×4, 2×6) in his entertaining innings of 55 while Mohamed batted solidly for his 33 (4×4, 2×6).

A late cameo from Steven Voucher who smashed 28, laced with 6×4, propelled the Warriors to a competitive 155-8 in their allotted 20 overs.
Medium fast bowler Basil Persaud was impressive, claiming 4-18 in 4 overs. In response, Reliance Masters also began precariously, losing Premlall Persaud to the second ball of the innings without scoring.

The experience duo of Basil Persaud and Elroy Stephney then repaired the early damage to build a formidable 78-run partnership for the second wicket to stabilise the Masters.
Persaud was brutal in his innings of 38 smashing 4×4 and 2×6 but departed to give the Warriors some hope. Two further wickets fell in quick succession.

Stephney then took control and batted superbly to remain unbeaten on 62 (8×4, 2×6) to guide the Masters to the victory target of 156-6 in the 19th over. Seamer Rafiq Mohamed had 2-24 from 4 overs.

At the Imam Bacchus ground in Affiance, Bacchus XI defeated Rising Star by 65 runs after posting 148-4 in 15 overs and restricted their opponents to 83-7 in their 15 overs.
Meanwhile in the same competition Reliance Hustlers and Bush Lot Trend Setters claimed walkovers as their opposing teams failed to turn up for their fixtures.
The competition will continue on Sunday with various matches in the 24-team round-robin tournament.