By Frederick Halley
A BRILLIANT undefeated 114 by Polly Shivrattan failed to earn Ramblers Rampage victory over archrivals Toronto Blizzards in last Saturday’s final of the Ontario Softball Cricket Clubs (OMSCC) Over-50 tournament which ended at the Ashtonbee Reservoir, in Scarborough, Toronto, Canada.

In a repeat of last year’s final, played in brilliant sunshine at the same venue, Ramblers Rampage were powered to a respectable 205 for three in their allotted 20 overs after being inserted by their opponents. The total, however, proved inadequate as the defending champions reached the required total with three balls to spare.

The victory was engineered by a fine second-wicket partnership of 104 between Sunil Dhaniram (83) and Mohan Harihar (53) who treated the Saturday afternoon crowd to an array of attacking shots.
The two came together after Jesh Parasnauth (21 with two sixes) departed in the fifth over with the score on 43. By the half-way stage, Toronto Blizzards looked in complete command with 134 already on the board.

With the departure of the former Guyana and Canada player, Dhaniram, whose knock included four fours and seven sixes, in the 11th over, Ramblers Rampage raised their hopes of restricting Blizzards. These hopes, however, faded as Harihar stayed to the end, his undefeated knock containing four fours and an equal number of sixes. Gerald Austin chipped in with 17 not out. Junior Azizudin took two for 23.

Earlier, Ramblers Rampage innings was a tale of two halves. After labouring to 58 for two in the first 10 overs, they then proceeded to score 147 in the next 10, losing only one wicket.
The left-handed Shivrattan, who shared a second wicket stand of 135 with Dennis Hansraj (31), went on a boundary- hitting spree, smashing five fours and 12 sixes, showing scant respect for all the bowlers. Skipper Patrick Shivrattan chipped in with a quick-fire 20 with a four and two sixes. The three wickets were shared by Lall “Dingo” Singh, Jesh Parasnauth and Roy Brittania for 18, 19 and 23 runs respectively.

Apart from copping the Norman Sue Bakery-sponsored winner’s trophy, all the players from the winning team were also recipients of medallions. Dhaniram was named the Most Valuable Player of the winning side while Polly Shivrattan copped the award for the losers.

Ramblers Rampage carted off the regular season trophy after topping the points standing and were the only team to defeat Toronto Blizzards who returned the favour in their return fixture.
The highest ranked player award went to former Guyana Under-19 player, Troy Gobin of Pegasus Storm; he also took home the prize for scoring the most runs (445) in the season, marking the second consecutive year he won both awards. Jano Panday of Friendship Masters claimed the prize for the bowler with the most wickets (10) while Imam “Bunzy” Gafoor of Pegasus Storm took the most catches (six).

In the Consolation final, played on the adjoining ground, Pegasus Storm made light work of Remax All Stars, defeating their opponents by six wickets in a low-scoring affair.
Winning the toss and opting to bat, Remax All Stars were restricted to 86 for nine in their 20 overs with Khem Singh being the main destroyer with three for 10 in his three overs. Jai Singh supported with two for 10. Pegasus Storm reached the required target in 11.1 overs with Jito Narine hitting a four and three sixes in a top score of 30.
In brief remarks, OMSCC President, Orin O’Neil, had loud praise for the sponsors and also lauded the teams for their participation in the 2022 season.