By Frederick Halley
A BRILLIANT opening stand of 85 between Tamica Wilson (40 not out) and Amanda DeFreitas (23), aided by some wayward bowling, spurred 4R Lioness to a comprehensive nine-wicket victory over Trophy Stall Angels in the inaugural women’s final of the Prime Minister T20 Softball tournament which ended in a blaze of glory at the Guyana National Stadium, yesterday.

Playing before a sprinkling of spectators on a sun-lit day, 4R Lioness raced to 101 for one in 9.4 overs, replying to the 100 made by their opponents in the allotted 12 overs.

Wilson, who struck five fours, lost her partner DeFreitas who struck one four, ensured victory was achieved without any further loss with Joann VanSertima (10 not out) striking the winning boundary, a vicious pull through mid-wicket. Wides contributed a healthy 30. Former Guyana and West Indies player Tremayne Smartt took the only wicket to fall, while conceding 10 runs.

Earlier, opener Alicia Allen was left stranded on 46 (two fours) while former Guyana batter, June Ogle followed up her semi-final knock of 46 not out by another fine innings of 30 and with the addition of five penalty runs, Trophy Stall Lions reached what proved to be an inadequate total. Hassana Mohamed took one for 16 and Sangeete Sawh one for 20.

In Sunday’s semi-finals, played at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) ground, Queenstown, 4R Lioness defeated Upper Demerara All Stars by five wickets while Trophy Stall Lioness won from East Coast Warriors by 10 wickets.

Batting first, Upper Demerara All Stars were restricted to 83 for five in the allotted 10 overs. 4R Lioness reached the required target in seven overs, losing three wickets in the process.

In the other game, East Coast Warriors batted first and made 81 for seven in 10 overs with opener M. Benn hitting a top-score of 22. Smartt took two for 13. Trophy Stall Angels got to 82 without loss in 9.2 overs, with Ogle not out on 46 and Alicia Allen undefeated on 26.

At the presentation ceremony, which followed, Tamica Wilson was named the Player of the Match while Ogle carted off the Player of the Tournament award. Wilson received a trophy while Ogle got a blender. The winner’s and runners-up trophy, Player of the Match and MVP trophies were sponsored by Trophy Stall.

The winning team also took home the winners’ purse of $200 000 while the runners-up collected $25 000.

The Georgetown Softball Cricket League (GSCL)-organised tournament, which is in its sixth year, has the blessings of the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.

Three other finals – Legends Over-50, Masters Over-40 and All Stars Open were set to follow the women’s final.