PM T20 Softball tournament

By Frederick Halley
SEEMINGLY dead and buried at 104 for 8 in the 16th over, Regal legends were rescued by a stunning 45-run partnership between Rudolph Baker and skipper Mahendra “Anil” Hardyal, rallying to defend the Legends Over-50 title with a thrilling eighth-wicket victory over the previously unbeaten New York Softball Cricket League (NYSCL) Legends at the Guyana National Stadium yesterday.

Set 147 for victory, after restricting NYSCL Legends to 146 for seven in 20 overs, Regal Legends achieved the target with four balls to spare.

After NYSCL captain Ronald Evelyn removed Wayne Jones (18), the big-hitting Eric Thomas (0) and Fazleen Mohamed (0), along with the run out of David Harper (15) in a dramatic 16th over, which saw Regal Legends slipping from 103 for five to 104 for eight, the New Yorkers were ecstatic.

However, that ecstasy soon turned to gloom in Evelyn’s next over as he was plundered for 27 runs, including four sixes, three off the bat of Baker and the other from Hardyal.

When victory was achieved, Baker was unbeaten on 33, laced with a four and four towering sixes off a mere 14 balls while Hardyal’s unbeaten 14, included a six and came off 11 balls.

The consistent Ramesh Narine had earlier held the innings together with a valuable 47, batting at number three, before departing at 74 for three in the 11th over. His knock included three fours and a six. Evelyn finished with three for 41 from 3.2 overs while Nandlall Doodnauth took two for 21 from four.

Doodnauth had earlier given the NYSCL innings some impetus after a somewhat slow start. Batting at number six, the pugnacious right-hander slammed five fours and a six in a quick-fire 32 off 22 balls. Ken Sanichar supported with 22 while Ravi Sahadeo (19) and Tony Fernandez (18) also had useful knocks.

Bowling for Regal Legends, Wayne Jones took three for 35 while there was one wicket each for Harper, Narine, and Thomas.

Regal Legends’ win followed another similar nail-biter when the same two teams met in the NYSCL annual Independence Cup last July in New York. That game also was decided in the last over with the Guyana-based side prevailing.

Regal Legends also took championship honours in the South Florida tournament, held in the Sunshine State in March/April.

The winning team took away the winners’ trophy and a hefty $600,000 while NYSCL received the runners-up trophy and $50,. Baker was awarded the man-of-the-match for his marvellous knock while Narine was voted the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Legends category. He was the only batter to record a century in the division.

The Masters Over-40 and Open All Stars finals were also scheduled to be completed under lights bringing the curtains down on the sixth edition of the Prime Minister T20 Softball tournament, organised by the Georgetown Softball Cricket League, in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.