By Frederick Halley
HAVING already taken the lion’s share of the top prizes in the 2022 Ontario Softball Cricket League (OSCL) 2022 tournament, Mercenary will be aiming to make a clean sweep when they oppose Carr Tec in the Playoffs final, set for the Ashtonbee Reservoir ground, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada today.

The rampaging Mercenary were crowned regular season champions, totalling 70 points in the 14-team T20 category, the same as Berbice Vipers but with a superior net run rate. They also carted off the T10 and T15 knockout competitions with comprehensive wins over Better Hope and Canadian Legends respectively.

To date, Berbice Vipers are the only team to register a win over Mercenary in this year’s T20, played on July 10 at the Glenoble Public School ground. Winning the toss and batting first, Mercenary were shut out for a paltry 81 in 19 overs with Berbice Vipers achieving the winning target for the loss of five wickets in 17.5 overs.

Carr Tec, who finished third in the regular season standings, are entering today’s final with the firm belief that they are capable of stopping Mercenary’s winning streak, having easily disposed of Caribbean Sensation in last weekend’s semi-final, played at Dean Park.

Mercenary, on the other hand, made light work of Better Hope at the Ashtonbee Reservoir to set up what is expected to be a mouth-watering clash.
Led by long-standing captain and seasoned campaigner Looknauth ‘Colgate’ Ramsuchit, Mercenary boast a strong batting and bowling combination. Opener Avish Rukhram has the distinction of slamming two centuries during the season, including a monumental 196 and another knock of 154 – both undefeated innings.

He also heads the batting with 559 runs, way ahead of second-placed Steve Ramdass on 364 and Shiv Persaud with 350. Both Ramdass and Persaud are members of Enmore Sports Club. Coupled with that, former National captain Damodar Daesrath narrowly missed out on a century, having been dismissed for 91.

The batting also consists of the consistent former Guyana Youth player Shaun Deonandan, opener Richard Dias, who recently starred with a polished 65 in the Canada Cup while representing Softball Cricket Canada (SCC), the hard-hitting Zaheer Allard, Avinash Sookdeo and skipper Ramsuchit.

With Satrohan ‘Blade’ back in the lineup, it makes the bowling attack more formidable. Sookdeo, Amit Rukhram, Rabindra ‘Biscuit’ Diaram and Bholanuth ‘Bunty’ Sukhoo are expected to feature prominently.
Not to be outdone, Carr Tec will counter in the batting with the inclusion of former Guyana Youth players, Rovendra Mandolall and Troy Gobin, whose exploits in the softball arena are well documented.

While not excelling as in previous seasons, the prolific Mandolall has a highest score of 86 and will need to play a big role in today’s encounter.
Gobin, the former Malteenoes Sports Club player, performed excellently in the Ontario Masters Softball Cricket Clubs Over-50 tournament but will need to transform that form to this level. Much is also expected of former Guyana Under-19 player Eion Ktachay, Ian ‘Russian’ Baldeo and Mike Kadir.

Katchay will also double up in the bowling department with the likes of Gavin Glasgow, Pradeep ‘Polo’ Singh, Andy Persaud, Gobin and Yoodhanlall Sukhlall.
Apart from the T20 final, the day’s activities will also include a game for children, youths and women starting at 13:15hrs, following the playoffs presentation and the OSCL All Stars encounter, featuring the top 22 players during the season.

The OSCL All Stars’ presentation of trophies is set for 16:15hrs.