PARIKA Defenders continued their rich vein of form when they captured a softball tournament, played in excellent conditions for cricket, under lights at the famous Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) ground, in honour of the birth anniversary of Ramesh Sunich of Trophy Stall. They defeated Mike’s Wellman in a five-over final.

In semi-final number one, Wellman got the better of Floodlights by 27 runs. Wellman won the toss and batted first amassing a challenging 182 all out in their 20 overs.

Sheldon Purch led the way with a solid 67 and got support from Greg DeFranca with 32 and E. Lovell 24. Bowling for Floodlights, Uniss Yusuf took 2 for 31 and birthday boy Sunich 2 for 41 off 4.

In reply, Floodlights finished on 155 all out with Patrick Khan 45, Khalid Baksh 31 and Anil Beharry 23. Doing the damage for Wellman was R. Ganesh with 2 wickets.

In semi-final number two, Parika Defenders made a challenging 195 to defeat a Canadian-sponsored team with former Essequibo senior cricketer Ucil Armstrong leading the way with 66, Kabash 38 and Anthony Arjune 25. Bowling for the visitors, Ramo Malone and Anand took two wickets apiece. In reply, they made 122 all out with Malone returning to top-score with 63 – the only score of substance.

In a reduced five-over final, Parika Defenders won by 20 runs. Bheesham Persaud and Ucil Armstrong were the outstanding batsmen for Parika Defenders while Rawl Reid took 4 wickets for Wellman. Several trophies donated by Trophy Stall were shared out as incentives.