…Trophy Stall Lions end day one with perfect record

REGAL Legends chances of capturing their maiden title in the Orlando Softball Cricket League (OSCL) three-day tournament hung in the balance at the end of the first day, Friday, in Florida.

After suffering a surprise lost in their opening encounter to the home team at Pine Valley, they bounced back to defeat archrivals New York Softball Cricket League (NYSCL) in the other game to keep their chances alive.

The other Guyana team, Trophy Stall Lions, in race for championship honours in the same category, ended the day with a 100 per cent record, cruising to victory over the highly-fancied Toronto Blizzards before trouncing Sunshine by five wickets in their second game and were almost ensured of a semi-final place.

With OSCL thrashing South Florida in their second game and NYSCL winning their first game against the same opponents, the stage was set for an enthralling second day (Saturday) with three teams in that particular group with a chance of ending the preliminary rounds with two wins each.

OSCL were scheduled to battle with NYSCL and a win, would have seen them maintaining their unbeaten streak and be assured of a semi-final spot. On the other hand, if the New Yorkers triumphed, they would secure their second win while Regal Legends could also end with two wins, once they won from South Florida. Should three teams end with two wins each, a net rate scenario would have decided the two semi-finalists.

On the other hand, Trophy Stall Lions, the brainchild of Trophy Stall proprietor Ramesh Sunich, are the only team with two wins in their group, with Sunshine and Marine Masters first game ending in a tie, while the game between Toronto Blizzards and Marine Masters ended prematurely when the city officials told the teams that their permit time had ended. Up to press time, there was no word from the organisers on the fate of that fixture.

Summarised scores of the matches available in the Over-50 category: Regal Legends 142 all out in 20 overs – Mahendra Arjune 32, Surujdeo Ramdin 23, Wayne Jones 21; Dean Boodhan four for 21, Kamal Rambarran three for 16.

OSCL 145 for six in 19,2 overs won by four wickets with four balls to spare – Lionel Fagu retired hurt 40, Sham Veerasammy 32; Eric Thomas two for 27.

NYSCL 113 all out in 19.2 overs – Tony Fernamdes 30, Khemraj Sumair three for 17, Parsram Persaud two for nine, David Harper two for 24; Regal Legends 114 for three in 12.2 overs – Ramesh Narine 43, Arjune 34.

Trophy Stall Lions defeated Toronto Blizzards by 50 runs. Trophy Stall Lions 190 for four in 20 overs – Kash Lutchman 94 not out (seven fours and five sixes), Khemraj Budhai 36. Toronto Blizzards 140 for seven in 20 overs – Jesh Parasnauth 49, Shiv Seeram 30, Jaimini Singh 29.

Sunshine 114 for four in 20 overs – Ken Persaud 32, Btudhai two for 10; Trophy Stall Lions 115 for five in 14.1 overs, won by five wickets – Saheed 37, Kash Lutchman 31 not out, Budhai 28.

NYSCL defeated South Florida by 127 runs. NYSCL 261 for four in 20 overs – Q.uyaam Farooq 113 (eight fours and eight sixes), M, Doodnauth 34 not out; South Florida 134 for eight in 20 overs – Ravi Ramdeo 56.

The three-day tournament, which ends on Sunday, is being played across three formats – Open, Masters Over-40 and Legends Over-50. However, obtaining scores from the various venues in the preliminary rounds have been very tedious. (Frederick Halley)