…Regal, Ariel in quest for two titles

By Frederick Halley
THE fifth edition of the Prime Minister T20 Softball Cup, organised by the Georgetown Softball Cricket League (GSCL) Inc. is set to climax at the Guyana National Stadium today with the finals in all three categories – Open All Stars, Masters Over-45 and Legends Over-50.

There’s certain to be a new champion in the Open Division after defending champions Speedboat were booted out by archrivals Regal All Stars in yesterday’s semi-final, played at the Police Sports Club ground, Eve Leary before a raucous crowd

Regal All Stars will collide with the unbeaten Ariel All Stars who got the better of upstarts Name Brand at the DCC ground.
Both defending Over-45 Masters champions Fisherman and 2020 Over-50 winners Regal Legends with put their titles on the line, Fisherman opposing Ariel Masters and while Regal Legends will battle with Mike’s Wellman who won from Orlando Legends at GDF.

Fisherman turned back the challenge New York Cricket Doctors at the Ogle Sports Club ground while Ariel Masters won easily from Regal Masters at GDF.

Regal Legends earned their final spot on a platter after Rockaway Legends, who had earlier beaten Carpet Doctors at the MYO ground, refused to contest the semi-final encounter which was scheduled to be played at the GDF ground. After playing their first three games, the management of Rockaway Legends claimed they were not aware of the rules which allowed for two players aged 48 to play in the Over-50 category.

According to the rules which were published in the brochure – For Over-50 category, players must be born in 1971 and two players at 48 must be born in 1973.

In a ruthless display of power-hitting by both teams which saw both smashing sixes at will, Regal All Stars held their nerve to stop the rampaging Speedboat who seemed well on course to chase down the challenging 195 to march into today’s final. However, a flurry of wickets in the lower and middle-order saw them being dismissed for 167 in the final over.

Asked to take first strike, Regal All Stars reached 194 for seven in their 20 overs with consistent scores from Sachin Singh (44), Sewchand Budhu (35), Chien Gittens (26), Richard Latiff (23) and Patrick Rooplall (20). Greg Singh took two for 27 and Devendra Mohan two for 34.

Speedboat principal scorers were Greg Singh (31), Kishore Singh (26 not out) and Safraz Karim (24). Budhu took four 26 and Kelvin Orford three for 33.

The other semi-final, played at DCC saw Ariel All Stars winning by three wickets after being set 93 for victory. S, Grovesnor (25), Jonhatan Fernandez (24) and D. Leukenauth (22) led the way for the eventual winners while Joshua Sampson took three for 27 for Name Brand.

After being asked to take first strike, Name Brand never recovered from a disastrous start and were bowled out for 92 in 17.2 overs. The chief destroyers were Quentin Sampson (three for 10) and Dyanand Singh (three for 14).
In the Over-45 semi-final, played at GDF, Keith Fraser clobbered four fours and five sixes in and undefeated 70 as Ariel Masters rushed to 93 for one in 9.3 overs after dismissing opponents Regal Masters for a paltry 85 in 16.5 overs.
At Ogle, Fisherman Masters defeated New York Cricket Doctors by eight wickets after limiting the visitors to 93 all out in 17 overs. Asif Ally made 27. In reply, Fisherman Masters reached 96 for two in 14.4 overs with Ramo Malone (32 not out) and Bhim George (27 not out).

Mike’s Wellman qualified for the Legends final with a fine six wickets win over Orlando Legends at GDF. Batting first Orlando Legends made 141 for four in their allotted 20 overs with D. Sankar and S. Veerasammy unbeaten on 35 and 34 respectively. Wayne Jones captured two for 25.

Wellman, in reply, got to the required target in 18 overs, piloted by half-centuries from Lloyd Ruplall (58 not out) and Harold Hernananand (57 not out).

Regal Legends had earlier made light work of Floodlights Legends at Liliendaal to reach the semis. Winning the toss and batting, Floodlights could only muster 84 for eight in 20 overs with Anand Persaud (26) and Clyde Canterbury (25) being the principal scorers. Ramesh Deonarine took two for 27 and Uniss Yusuf two for 21.

Eoin Baker with an undefeated 42 with four fours and two sixes and Yusuf 38, with three fours and two sixes ensured Regal Legends got to 87 without loss in 10 overs.