… Mercenary, Rems renew rivalry

By Frederick Halley

TORONTO, Canada – The Ontario Softball Cricket League (OSCL) 2019 season climaxes on Saturday at the Ashtonbee playing fields with the Division One and Two playoffs championships finals.

With defending champions Sunshine opting out of the league, a new Division One champion will be crowned when archrivals Mercenary and Rems clash in what is expected to be a riveting contest.

Division Two champions Carr Tec, who swept both the regular season and division playoffs championship titles in 2018, will be aiming for a similar feat when they collide with Good Success.

Both Mercenary and Carr Tec are already assured of the regular season (20 overs) titles in their respective divisions and are eager to add the playoffs championships to their collections.

Mercenary were runaway winners in the regular season, tallying 63 points with their nearest rivals being with Rebels with 45 points, while Caribbean Sensation/Better Hope ended with 43, Rems 37 and GT Bannas 16.

After drawing a bye in the first round of the playoffs, Mercenary turned back the challenge of GT Bannas in Sunday’s semi-finals while Rems whipped Caribbean Sensation/Better Hope in the first round before advancing to the final by virtue of a bye,

Carr Tec finished Division Two (Conference B) with 72 points while Good Success topped Conference A with 57 points and secured their spot in the final with a tense victory over last year’s finalists Wakenaam after rain intervened in the semi-final contest. Carr Tec, on the other hand, made light work of Leguan Warriors.

Apart from taking top honours in the regular season, Mercenary were also crowned the Paul & Son 15-over winners, defeating Rems in a pulsating final off the final delivery of the game. They, however, failed to reach the final of the Caribbean Sensation-sponsored 10/10 tournament which saw Rems emerge as champions with an easy win over GT Bannas. With both Mercenary and Rems sharing the two knockout titles, Saturday’s encounter therefore takes on added significance.

Boasting several of the players who were part of Softball Cricket Canada, winners of the Open category at the recently-concluded Toronto Cup 3, Mercenary will be led by Loaknauth Ramsuchit and includes the likes of Munniram Karran, Satrohan ‘Blade’ Balkarran and Aftab ‘Maxie’ Shamsudeen, Avinash Sookdeo and Rabindra Diaram.

Skippered by Richard Dias, who incidentally was part of Softball Cricket Canada, Rems are not to be outdone as they too possess players of quality.

Chien Gittens has been a great addition to their lineup and along with the Deosarans, Surujpaul and Krishna plus Ian Baldeo, they are capable of blunting any attack on a given day.

The bowling will depend heavily on Yoodhanlall Sukhlall, Pradeep ‘Polo’ Singh, Gittens, Gopaulchand Beharry and Narendra Madholall.

Carr Tec, whose batting is built around the consistent and seasoned campaigner in Rovendra Mandolall, by far the leading scorer in the league with 528 runs, including a top score of 123, were aiming for a clean sweep of the Division Two titles. They were jolted, though, by Enmore in the 10/10 final but rebounded to win the 15-over final versus the same opponents.

Other key players in Carr Tec’s lineup include Avinash Singh, Rakesh Dyal, Shazam Baksh, Terry Mathura, Suresh Persaud and Rawl Scott who missed Sunday’s semi-final.

Good Success are, however, unfazed with Carr Tec’s reputation and have been quietly dispatching teams on their way to the playoffs final. Sheik Parsram has been outstanding with both bat and ball while Abdool Azeez, former Guyana youth player Harrienarine Chattergoon and Naveed Ali have played major roles during their fine season.