…Defending champions Ariel All Stars, Regal Legends set to defend titles
By Frederick Halley
THE sixth edition of the Prime Minister T20 Softball cricket tournament, organized by the Georgetown Softball Cricket League (GSCL) in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, climaxes today at the Guyana National Stadium with the four finals, starting the women’s contest from 9:30 hrs.
Two teams – Guyana Knight Riders Ariel All Stars and Regal Legends are set to defend their titles in the Open All Stars and the Legends Over-50 categories respectively following semi-final victories over Speedboat and Parika Defenders. Regal Legends will do battle with archrivals New York Softball Cricket League (NYSCL) Legends who got the better of East Coast Legends while Ariel All Stars confront Name Brand who defeated Regal All Stars in a last over thriller.
Meanwhile, a new champion will be crowned in the Masters Over-40 Division after defending champions Fisherman Masters failed to get past the preliminary round stages and an inaugural women’s champion will be known when 4R Lioness and Trophy Stall Angels clash in the day’s opener. The Masters Over-40 will feature Regal Masters and Ariel Masters.
In what is expected to be a mouth-watering contest, the Legends Over-50 final is a repeat of the Independence Cup final, played in New York last July, which saw Regal edging out their opponents in a nail-biter which went to the last over.
The New Yorkers have been flawless to date, winning all their preliminary round matches while Regal Legends, despite topping their group, suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Toucana Rangers in their final preliminary round game, played at the Police Sports Club ground.
In their semi-final encounter, played at the MYO ground, Parika Defenders, who reached that stage following the disqualification of Invaders Legends of Essequibo who were guilty of playing an under-age player, batted first and reached 136 for eight in the reduced 15 overs with Oswald Chandla leading the way with 44 (one four and five sixes). Ramesh Narine and Eric Thomas claimed two for 12 and 14 respectively.
Regal Legends rushed to 141 for three in 10.5 overs with consistent scores of 39 from Mohendra Arjune, 37 from Yunis Usuff and 32 from Narine. Chandla came back to pick up two for 35.
At Eve Leary, NYSCL continued their winning ways with an 53-run victory over East Coast Legends. Sent into bat, NYSCL reached a challenging 138 for eight in their 15 15 overs with Ravi Sahadeo (41) being the principal scorer. Skipper Mahesh Chunilall took three for 16.
East Coast Legends were dismissed for 85 in 13.1 overs with Chunilall hitting a top score of 31 as Qayyaam Farrouq, Doodnauth Nandlall, Jagdesh Persaud and captain Ronald Evelyn took two wickets each.
Over at the Queen’s College ground, Ariel All Stars proved why they will be difficult to beat in today’s final, with a huge 89 =-run win over Speedboat. In a game, reduced to 12 overs, Ariel All Stars rattled up 171 with Jonhattan Fernandez blasting 63 with three fours and seven sixes while Keon Sinclair contributed 45, laced with six sixes in the brutal assault.
Speedboat were shut out for 82 in 9.5 overs with Eon Hooper (four for 34, Sinclair (three for 19) and Fernandez (two for 17) being the main destroyers.
In the other semi-final, Name Brand needed 18 off the last over to overhaul Regal All Stars 164 and duly reached the target off the last ball after S. Sukhu blasted a fine 65.-
