… beat Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets by 61 runs

 A BRUTAL attacking innings of 59 runs from the powerfully-built Rakesh Somwaru spearheaded defending champions, Blairmont Community Centre, to a successful defence of their Elizabeth Styles Under-21 title.

They surprisingly defeated Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets by 61 runs in the 2018 Final at the Port Mourant ground in front of a fair-size crowd.

Blairmont CC won the toss and elected to take first strike on a pitch that played slower and lower as the match progressed.

They lost their first wicket in the third over when former National Under-19 pacer Sylus Tyndall had Seon Glasgow caught behind for 10 then Nigel Deodat for 9 at 43 for 2. He was also caught by wicketkeeper Chanderpaul Govindan, off Kevlon Anderson.

Blairmont slumped to 88 for 6 in the 22nd over as Javed Karim 19, Zameel Nazir 6, F. Subhan 0 and Marvin Prashad 15 fell cheaply. Somwaru then played the innings of his life as he smashed four massive sixes and six boundaries. He added 90 for the 7th wicket with the elegant Fawaz Gafoor.

Gafoor rotated the strike nicely and scored 44 runs with two boundaries. He was eventually bowled by medium pacer Kevlon Anderson at 178. Blairmont were eventually dismissed for 195 in 36 overs. Anderson 4 for 44 and Keith Simpson 2 for 20 were the best bowlers for Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets. 

National players Kevin and Junior Sinclair started like a bullet from a gun by racing to 52 without loss from five overs before Junior Sinclair threw his wicket away for 11 in the sixth over.

Lunch was taken at 63 for 1 from eight overs but left-arm spinner Nigel Deodat struck a crucial blow when he had the in-form Kevin Sinclair caught at cover for 43 (6×4) then off-spinner Seon Glasgow trapped Kevlon Anderson for 11, as Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets slipped to 73 for 4 in the 12th over. Deodat and Glasgow bowled well in tandem as the Rose Hall Town team were bowled out for 134 in just 25 overs.

Tyndall, in at No. 8, batted with flair to score 33, which included a six and five boundaries. Deodat and Glasgow were the main destroyers for Blairmont, claiming 4 for 33 and 4 for 43 respectively. Marvin Prashad supported with 1 for 19.

Representative of Elizabeth Styles, Bissoondyal Singh, praised the BCB for organising a highly successful tournament in a short time span.

Singh stated that he was highly impressed by the BCB’s organising skills, no-nonsense attitude to indiscipline and the mileage the company received from media coverage.

To loud applause, Singh announced that sponsorship for 2019 would be renewed as the company was committed to Berbice Cricket under the current leadership. Secretary of the BCB, Robby Saywack, and president Hilbert Foster both expressed gratitude to the sponsor for investing in the development of Berbice Cricket.

The Under-21 tournament, Foster stated, is a bridge between the Under-19 and first division levels. Foster stated that when he announced that the BCB would host 22 tournaments in 2018, some critics had laughed at the suggestion.

To date, the BCB has successfully completed ten tournaments and would shortly complete another six, with the others scheduled to be completed by the 31st December, 2018.

Foster hailed the outstanding development of Blairmont Community Centre for successfully defending their title at the Under-21 level. Blairmont Community Centre collected the Championship prize of $70 000 and the Elizabeth Styles trophy.