…Regal to contest two finals

THE fourth edition of the Prime Minister T20 Softball Cup, organised by the Georgetown Softball Cricket League (GSCL) Inc, in conjunction with the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, climaxes at the Everest Cricket Club ground, Camp Road, today with the finals in all three categories of the annual tournament.

Unlike the previous finals, today’s action will see no spectators in attendance, based on the Ministry of Health and the National COVID-19 Task Force guidelines.
Regal will vie for supremacy in two categories with their Open team renewing rivalry with archrivals Speedboat in what is slated to be a mouth-watering contest. Speedboat had the distinction of winning the title in 2017 and 2018 but failed to qualify for last year’s semi-finals while Regal had to be contented with sharing last year’s title with Grill Masters of Berbice following glitches with the floodlights.

Welman Masters, who failed on two consecutive occasions to get over the line against Regal Masters will be contesting their third consecutive final in the Over-45 category when they oppose Fisherman Masters after defending champions Regal Masters failed to reach the semi-final stage of the competition.
Regal Legends will however defend their title, which they captured in the inaugural year when they face off against Savage Legends who got the better of Fisherman Masters in yesterday’s semi-final, played at Everest. Regal whipped New York’s President’s XI to earn their right in today’s final.

Led by a fine unbeaten 61 from skipper Chien Gittens Regal upstaged upstarts Spartans of Berbice in their Open semi-final encounter played at the Queen’s College ground yesterday. Set the challenging task of scoring 185 for victory, after Spartans had reached a respectable 184 for nine, Regal achieved the task in 18.2 overs. Roy Persaud led the bowling for the winners with figures of four for 33.

In the other semi-final, played at the same venue, Speedboat raced to 253 for six in their allotted 20 overs with Greg Singh blasting 84 and Sarfraz Esau 56. Hemchand Deochand took two for 33. Ariel made a fight of the huge total but fell short by 19 runs, reaching 234 for nine when their overs expired. Quentin Sampson, who hit a century on the opening day, was again among the runs with a splendid 85. Kishore Smith took two for five and Bryan Mangar two for 24.
Over at Lusignan, Wellman Masters made light work of Success Masters, rushing to 87 for one in 9.4 overs after limiting their opponents to 85 for eight in their 20 overs. Greg DeFranca was unbeaten on 51 when victory was achieved.

Fisherman Masters also took care of HS Masters in another low-scoring affair, reaching 74 for two in 10 overs after dismissing the latter for 73 in 14.5 overs. Keith Fraser led the way for the winners with 51.
At Everest, Regal’s Eric Thomas was again in subline form, following up his unbeaten 120 versus Rockaway Legends on Friday with a blistering 111 in yesterday’s semi-final versus New York President’s XI.

Taking first strike, Regal Legends reached 218 for four in their allotted 20 overs before limiting the New York-based side to 166 in 19.1 overs, winning by 52 runs. Mohamed Rafeek made 54 for the losers while Fazleem Mohamed ended with three for 33 for Regal Legends.
Savage Legends turned back the efforts of Parika Delenders in the other semi-final, winning by 39 runs. Batting first, Savage Legends made 168 for seven with Ramnarine Persaud hitting a top score of 56. Carl Scarce took two for 31. Parika Defenders were restricted to 129 for eight when their innings ended with Asif Ahmad hitting 46. Vishnauth Gobin claimed two for 25.
Today’s action gets underway at 9.00 hrs. The winners of the Legends Over-50 category will cart off $200 000, while the runners-up will receive $50 000.

The man-of-the-match in the final will receive a trophy while man-of-the-series will collect a 50-inch Smart TV valued at $120 000.
In the Masters Over-45 category, the winners will pocket $200 000 and the runner up $50 000 while the man-of-the-match in the final will receive a trophy and the man-of-the-series will take home a 50-inch Smart TV valued at $100 000.

In the All Stars category, (Open), the winners will receive $200 000; the runner-up $50,000, man-of-the-match in the final will receive a trophy and the man-of-the-series will collect a 40-inch Smart TV valued at $70,000.